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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hamill  Missionary  Fund. 


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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
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Syria 


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BY 


WILLIAM  ELEROY  CURTIS 


AUTHOR  OF  “THE  TURK  AND  HIS  LOST  PROVINCES,”  “THE  TRUE  THOMAS 
JEFFERSON,”  “THE  TRUE  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,”  ETC. 


3!ttu£tj:ation£  from  fto&aft  pbotojtapb^  bj 
Cban£  Curti# 


CHICAGO 

FLEMING 


NEW  YORK 
H.  REVELL 


TORONTO 

COMPANY 


LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1903,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 

(, September ) 


1 


Chicago:  63  Washington  Street 
New  York  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Toronto:  2 7  Richmond  Street  W 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:  30  St.  Mary  Street 


TO 

ELROY  CURTIS 


\ 


* 


PREFACE 


A  conscientious  effort  is  made  in  this  volume  to 
describe  the  Holy  Land,  and  the  historical  scenes  of 
Syria  as  they  appear  to-day  to  the  eyes  of  a  newspaper 
reporter.  It  is  not  intended  for  theologians,  but  for 
ordinary  people;  and  was  prepared  for  publication  to 
gratify  many  readers  of  The  Chicago  Record-Herald, 
who  asked  that  the  letters  which  appeared  in  its  col¬ 
umns  in  the  spring  of  1901  might  be  preserved  in  per¬ 
manent  form.  In  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 
H.  Baldwin  of  Washington,  D.  C. ,  and  my  own  fam¬ 
ily,  I  spent  several  weeks  visiting  the  scenes  identified 
with  the  life  of  our  Savior,  and  the  homes  and  haunts 
of  the  Patriarchs  and  Prophets  of  Scripture  times. 
Such  an  experience  brings  them  closer  to  you;  gives 
them  a  vitality  they  do  not  have  in  books;  and  that, 
of  course,  is  the  greatest  benefit  of  travel;  and  let  me 
here  record  my  humble  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the 
Scriptures.  A  journey  through  Palestine  destroys 
many  illusions,  and  disturbs  one’s  confidence  in  man¬ 
kind,  and  especially  in  many  of  the  professional 
teachers  of  Christianity,  but  it  confirms  the  faith  of 
conscientious  and  thoughtful  readers  in  the  Bible  and 
its  teachings;  for  every  spot  fully  described  in  its  pages 
can  be  immediately  and  distinctly  identified.  This  is 
an  extraordinary  fact.  I  know  of  no  other  book  of 
which  the  same  can  be  said. 

The  photographs  of  Jericho,  the  House  of  Pilate,  the 
Dead  Sea,  Rasheed,  “Ships  of  the  Desert,”  “The  East 
and  West,”  and  “A  Bit  of  Bethany”  were  made  by 

5 


6 


PREFACE 


Mr.  Baldwin;  the  others  by  my  daughter,  Elsie  Evans 
Curtis,  who  has  been  the  faithful  companion  of  my 
travels  since  she  was  a  child. 

The  newspaper  letters  of  which  the  book  is  com¬ 
posed  were  dictated  to  my  son,  Elroy  Curtis,  some¬ 
times  under  most  inconvenient  surroundings.  During 
the  entire  journey  we  wrote  an  average  of  twenty-five 
hundred  words  a  day,  wherever  we  could  find  a  place 
to  put  a  typewriter — often  surrounded  by  groups  of 
astonished  natives.  His  patience,  fidelity  and  skill 
made  this  possible,  and  therefore  to  him  the  book  is 

dedicated.  William  E.  Curtis. 


Contents 


Chapter 

I.  Highways  to  the  Holy  Land 

II.  The  Center  of  Protestant  Mission 
Work  in  Syria . 

III.  The  Journey  to  Damascus 

IV.  The  Oldest  City  We  Know  . 

Vo  The  Mohammedan  at  Home  . 

VI.  The  Women  of  Damascus 

VII.  By  Railroad  to  the  Grave  of  Noah 

VIII.  The  Wonderful  Walls  of  Baalbek 

IX.  By  Tugboat  to  Tyre  and  Sidon 

X.  Footprints  of  the  Prophet  Elijah 

XI.  From  Mount  Carmel  to  Nazareth 

XII.  The  Early  Home  of  Our  Saviour 

XIII.  Around  the  Sea  of  Galilee 

XIV.  Tiberias,  the  City  of  Herod 

XV.  The  Pathway  of  Jesus  from  Nazareth 

to  Jerusalem . 

XVI.  Modern  Samaria  and  Modern  Samari¬ 
tans  . 

XVII.  The  Jewish  Colonies  in  Palestine 
XVIII.  From  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem 

XIX.  The  Holy  City . 

XX.  The  Jews  of  Jerusalem 

XXI.  The  Tomb  of  the  Redeemer  . 

XXII.  The  Moslems  of  Jerusalem  . 

XXIII.  The  City  of  the  Nativity 
XXIV.  Bethany,  Hebron,  Shiloh  and  Jericho 
XXV.  The  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea 


Page 

13 

37 

65 

85 

119 

141 

151 

169 

185 

203 

225 

239 

25; 

273 

289 

307 

323 

339 

363 

385 

409 

439 

459 

479 

507 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Gateway  of  the  Temple  of  Diana  of  the  Ephesians  ...  .  23 

The  Shore  Road  at  Beirut .  37 

“The  Ship  of  the  Desert” .  65 

The  Wall  at  Damascus,  Where  St.  Paul  Was  Let  Down .  92 

“The  Street  That  Is  Called  Straight,”  Damascus .  95 

A  Mohammedan  Cemetery,  Damascus .  10 1 

Baalbek . . .  169 

The  Well  of  Nazareth .  235 

"The  East  and  the  West” .  295 

The  House  of  Simon  the  Tanner,  Jaffa .  339 

Railroad  Station  at  Jerusalem .  363 

Jerusalem  from  the  Hotel  Balcony .  366 

A  Bedouin  Tent .  368 

A  Jew  of  Jerusalem .  383 

The  Mount  of  Olives,  with  the  Two  Gardens  of  Gethsemane 

in  the  Foreground . 403 

House  of  Pilate,  Jerusalem .  425 

Russian  Pilgrims  on  the  Way  to  the  Jordan .  434 

Jerusalem  from  the  Mount  of  Olives .  445 

Babes  of  Bethlehem .  459 

Rachel’s  Tomb .  461 

9 

Bethany .  476 

A  Bit  of  Bethany . 480 

Modern  Jericho .  494 

At  the  Dead  Sea .  516 


1 

Highways  to  the  Holy  Land; 
or  Cruising  on  the  Coast  of 
Asia  Minor 


To-day  in  Syria  and  Palestine 

I 

HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND;  OR,  CRUISING 
ON  THE  COAST  OF  ASIA  MINOR 

There  are  several  ways  of  reaching  Constantinople 
and  the  Holy  Land.  You  can  go  from  Vienna  via  the 
Balkan  States  by  railway,  with  through  cars  four  days 
from  Paris.  There  is  another  line  via  Bukharest  to 
Constanze  on  the  Black  Sea,  with  a  steamer  running 
down  to  Constantinople  from  the  latter  port  in  a 
single  night.  There  is  a  line  of  steamers  from  Boston 
to  Egypt  and  several  lines  from  England  and  the 
Atlantic  and  Mediterranean  ports  of  Europe  to  Alex¬ 
andria,  Port  Said,  Smyrna,  and  Constantinople. 
Between  Constantinople  and  Egypt  commerce  is  car¬ 
ried  on  by  several  lines  of  coasters. 

The  Russian  steamers  are  said  to  be  the  best.  They 
run  from  Odessa  and  other  Black  Sea  ports  to  Egypt, 
and  their  principal  cargoes  are  pilgrims  for  Jerusalem, 
Bethlehem,  Nazareth,  and  other  sacred  places  of 
Palestine,  but  they  also  carry  down  a  good  deal  of 
flour,  petroleum,  and  lumber,  and  bring  back  carpets, 
wool,  cotton,  and  other  merchandise.  A  French  line 
makes  circuitous  trips  from  Marseilles  via  Greece. 
The  Austrian  Lloyd  steamers  start  at  Trieste,  touch 
the  ports  of  the  Adriatic  and  make  a  general  circuit  of 
the  Aigean  Sea.  An  Italian  company  sends  steamers 
regularly  from  Genoa,  calling  at  Naples,  Brindisi,  and 

13 


14  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Athens  and  visiting  all  of  the  ports  on  the  eastern 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  The  Greeks  have  an 
excellent  fleet  of  merchantmen  engaged  in  the  same 
trade,  and  an  English  line,  under  the  management  of 
the  Khedival  Company,  is  very  popular  with  Britons. 
They  think  it  is  the  best.  Generally  speaking,  there¬ 
fore,  one  can  get  a  steamer  almost  every  day,  or  at 
least  three  or  four  a  week,  touching  the  principal 
ports  on  the  coast  of  Syria.  Nearly  all  the  steamers 
are  comfortable.  The  food  is  good,  the  cabins  are 
clean,  the  rates  of  fare  are  reasonable,  and  the  cap¬ 
tains  and  other  officers  usually  speak  three  or  four 
different  languages. 

During  the  entire  year,  except  in  the  windy  months, 
the  cruise  is  delightful.  The  steamers  stop  for  several 
hours  at  each  of  the  ports,  long  enough  for  passengers 
to  go  ashore  and  see  all  there  is  to  be  seen,  so  that 
merely  by  making  the  cruise,  without  attempting  to 
penetrate  the  interior,  one  can  get  a  pretty  fair  idea 
of  the  country.  Several  short  railways  extend  from 
Smyrna,  Beirut,  Jaffa,  and  other  ports  to  the  inte¬ 
rior,  all  of  them  owned  and  controlled  by  foreigners, 
under  concessions  from  the  Ottoman  Empire.  Others 
are  proposed.  A  concession  has  been  granted  by  the 
sultan  to  a  German  company — with  great  reluctance, 
however,  and  under  diplomatic  pressure  from  Kaiser 
William,  his  only  friend  in  Europe — for  a  line  to 
Bagdad,  which  will  make  accessible  to  tourists  one  of 
the  most  fascinating  parts  of  the  East,  now  beyond 
reach  unless  travelers  are  willing  and  able  to  endure  a 
long,  tedious  journey  on  camels  over  the  desert. 

Damascus,  Jerusalem,  Ephesus,  and  Tarsus,  the 
birthplace  of  Paul,  can  already  be  reached  by  rail,  and 
it  will  soon  be  possible  to  go  by  train  to  Mount 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND 


15 


Ararat.  Since  1896  the  Russians  have  been  building  a 
line  south  from  Tiflis,  and  have  already  reached  Kara, 
a  strongly  fortified  city  on  the  Turkish  frontier.  Kara 
is  near  the  foot  of  Mount  Ararat,  5,689  feet  above  the 
sea  level.  The  railroad  is  chiefly  important  for 
strategic  purposes,  but  the  people  in  the  interior  raise 
a  great  deal  of  wool,  and,  having  facilities  for  reaching 
the  market,  will  no  doubt  extend  their  enterprises. 

Traveling  in  the  East  is  not  so  comfortable  as  in 
more  civilized  countries.  There  is  always  a  good  deal 
of  hardship  and  a  lack  of  comforts  as  well  as  luxuries, 
and  people  who  go  to  Turkey,  Asia  Minor,  and  Pales¬ 
tine  must  expect  to  put  up  with  inconveniences,  dis¬ 
comforts,  and  annoyances  that  would  not  be  tolerated 
at  home.  Occasionally  you  find  a  good  hotel,  but 
the  most  of  them  are  bad.  The  Germans  are  going 
in  rapidly,  which  is  a  most  favorable  sign  of  promise, 
for  they  always  make  life  more  endurable  to  foreign¬ 
ers — and  where  are  not  the  Germans  going?  We  hear 
of  their  enterprise  and  aggressiveness  in  Australia  and 
in  South  Africa;  they  are  occupying  every  point  of 
vantage  in  China  and  the  East  Indies,  while  in  South 
America  they  are  monopolizing  the  retail  as  well  as 
the  export  trade.  In  Syria,  and  the  Holy  Land,  and 
it  is  a  cause  of  gratitude,  they  are  buying  up  the  old 
hotels  and  starting  new  ones,  and  are  altogether  the 
hope  of  the  country.  If  it  is  ever  to  be  redeemed, 
they  will  do  the  work. 

Germans  have  advantages  on  Turkish  territory  which 
are  not  enjoyed  by  other  foreigners,  because  of  the 
supposed  friendly  relations  between  the  kaiser  and  the 
sultan.  How  deep  those  relations  are  it  is  difficult  to 
determine,  but  they  are  being  utilized  in  a  practical 
manner  in  every  direction.  On  the  steamer  one 


16  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


day  a  German  gentleman  remarked  that  “the  sultan 
says  that  the  kaiser  is  his  best  friend,  but  we  haven’t 
heard  what  the  kaiser  has  to  say.”  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  jealousy  on  the  part  of  the  Russians.  They 
have  terrorized  Turkey  and  have  compelled  the  sultan 
to  respect  their  subjects  by  threats  of  reprisal.  A 
Russian  subject  has  been  safe  in  the  Ottoman  Empire 
since  the  war  of  1877-78,  but  it  is  fear  and  not  love  or 
respect  that  gives  him  an  advantage.  There  has 
always  been  a  feeling  that  every  Russian  who  enters 
Turkey  comes  as  an  enemy,  but  the  Germans  are 
received  as  friends. 

The  most  disagreeable  feature  of  the  country  is  the 
filth.  If  cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness,  the  present 
population  of  Palestine  and  Syria  haven’t  the  slightest 
chance  of  Paradise.  The  houses  as  well  as  the  streets 
are  almost  intolerable.  Oriental  magnificence  is  much 
to  be  admired,  but  the  dirt  and  bad  smells  that  sur¬ 
round  it  modify  the  enjoyment.  There  are,  however, 
a  few  clean  cities  which  it  is  a  pleasure  to  enter. 

Leaving  Constantinople  in  the  afternoon  we  sail 
down  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  and  through  the  Darda¬ 
nelles.  The  plain  of  Troy,  the  site  of  the  old  city  of 
Priam,  the  home  of  the  beautiful  Helen,  whose  dark 
eyes  set  the  whole  world  a-fighting,  lies  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Hellespont,  about  three  miles  from  the 
Aegean  Sea,  and  a  considerable  part  of  the  ruins  and 
the  country  around  belongs  to  Mr.  Calvert,  the  United 
States  consul  at  the  neighboring  town  of  Dardanelles. 
He  has  an  estate  of  five  hundred  or  six  hundred  acres 
well  irrigated,  and  under  a  high  state  'of  cultivation, 
and  his  home  is  the  grateful  headquarters  of  the  arche¬ 
ologists  who  come  to  dig  among  the  ruins.  From  the 
threshold  one  can  see  where  Achilles  chased  Hector 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  17 


around  the  walls  of  the  city,  where  the  wooden  horse 
was  played  off  upon  the  Trojans  by  the  cunning 
Greeks,  and  where  Ajax  did  his  best  fighting.  The 
topographical  features  of  the  country  have  consider¬ 
ably  changed  during  the  three  thousand  years  since  the 
Trojan  War.  The  ancient  city  is  buried  deep  beneath 
the  soil,  the  ranges  of  hills  have  been  rounded  off, 
ravines  have  been  filled  up,  and  the  rivers  have 
changed  their  courses,  but  the  general  outline  of  the 
country  can  easily  be  traced  from  the  description  in 
Homer’s  great  poem. 

The  excavations  made  by  Dr.  Schliemann  and  by 
Frank  Calvert  show  that  there  are  strata  of  cities, 
one  upon  another,  under  fifty  feet  of  rubbish  and  soil 
and  sand.  The  first  city  was  built  upon  the  bed  rock, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  its  population  was  Aryan, 
because  of  the  symbols  found  upon  the  pottery.  The 
second  settlement,  whose  foundations  rested  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  first,  according  to  Schliemann,  was  built 
by  the  Trojans,  and  the  ruins  show  that  the  town  was 
destroyed  by  a  fearful  conflagration.  The  walls  bear 
marks  of  having  been  exposed  to  intense  heat;  melted 
lead  and  copper  are  found  in  the  ashes,  and  among 
the  debris  were  charred  human  bones,  skeletons  with 
breast-plates,  and  helmets,  and,  most  wonderful  of  all, 
“the  treasures  of  Priam,”  whose  intrinsic  value  is  very 
great  and  whose  archeological  value  is  even  greater. 
They  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  hoarded  valuables 
of  the  king,  and  to  have  escaped  destruction  at  the 
time  his  palace  was  destroyed.  They  consist  of  dishes 
of  gold,  silver  and  electrum,  caldrons  and  other  uten¬ 
sils  of  copper,  bracelets,  rings,  chains  and  ornaments 
of  gold;  battle-axes,  swords,  spear  heads,  and  other 
weapons  of  copper,  and  many  various  articles  of  metal 


1 8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


which  were  fused  together  by  the  great  heat  that 
occurred  at  the  destruction  of  the  city. 

It  seems  extraordinary  that  the  successors  to  the 
city  that  lies  underneath  should  not  have  discovered 
these  deposits,  because  they  built  their  houses  imme¬ 
diately  over  them.  From  the  style  of  construction, 
the  implements,  weapons,  utensils,  and  other  articles 
that  are  found  in  the  ruins,  Dr.  Schliemann  believes 
that  the  third  settlement  was  composed  of  Greeks, 
probably  part  of  Agememnon’s  army,  who  took  pos¬ 
session  and  continued  to  live  there.  The  earth  that 
concealed  this  ruin  has  been  occupied  for  several  hun¬ 
dred  years  by  Turkish  shepherds  and  farmers,  who  have 
been  growing  vegetables  and  feeding  sheep  upon  the 
romantic  spot.  According  to  the  calculations  of  the 
archeologists,  Troy  was  a  much  smaller  city  than  stu¬ 
dents  generally  suppose.  The  ruins  will  not  justify  a 
larger  estimate  than  five  thousand  population.  It  is 
also  determined  that  the  date  of  the  Trojan  War  and 
the  fall  of  Troy  was  about  1270  B.  C. 

Frank  Calvert,  the  United  States  consul,  is  an  accom¬ 
plished  archeologist  as  well  as  an  enterprising  business 
man,  and  is  recognized  as  an  authority  upon  all  of 
these  subjects.  His  family  has  been  there  more  than 
half  a  century.  His  elder  brother  was  consul  of  the 
United  States  for  thirty  years,  and  he  has  served  in 
that  capacity  for  nearly  twenty-five  years.  Two  of 
his  daughters  have  married  Americans,  archeologists, 
who  went  there  to  make  excavations,  and  are  now  liv¬ 
ing  in  the  United  States. 

Lying  in  the  channel  at  the  town  of  Dardanelles  is  a 
fleet  of  black  hulks  with  stern-looking  cannon  protru¬ 
ding  from  the  port  holes,  but  the  ships  are  not  so  for¬ 
midable  as  they  look.  It  is  the  famous  navy  of 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND 


19 


Turkey — famous  for  having  been  unable  to  get  any 
farther  than  their  present  anchorage  during  the  recent 
war  with  Greece.  The  Grecian  fleet  appeared  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Hellespont  and  challenged  the  Turks  to 
come  out  for  a  sea  fight.  They  could  not  go  into  the 
strait  because  it  is  lined  from  end  to  end  with  fortifi¬ 
cations  and  Krupp  guns,  and  no  vessel  that  floats  could 
endure  the  bombardment  that  would  salute  it  if  it 
attempted  to  force  the  passage.  But  they  dared  the 
sultan’s  seamen  to  come  out  where  the  coast  is  clear, 
and  the  sultan  gave  the  order.  The  minister  of  marine 
told  him  that  his  ships  were  all  right,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  to  know  how  he  afterward  crawled  out  of 
the  scrape,  because  they  could  not  get  any  farther  than 
the  Dardanelles.  The  boilers  leaked,  the  engines 
broke  down,  the  steering  gear  wouldn’t  work,  and  not 
one  of  the  them  dare  venture  to  sea,  even  if  it  could 
have  made  the  steam  necessary.  Nor  were  they  able 
to  get  back  to  Constantinople,  but  had  to  cast  anchor 
where  they  lie,  and  nobody  is  able  to  move  them.  Of 
course  they  might  be  towed  up  by  tugs  and  other 
steamers, but  it  would  scarcely  pay.  Everybody  knows 
the  facts  except  the  sultan,  and  how  they  were  con¬ 
cealed  from  him  is  a  miracle.  He  has  another  fleet  in 
a  similar  condition  lying  in  the  Golden  Horn.  Not 
one  of  his  vessels  is  in  fighting  shape,  although  there 
are  twenty  or  thirty  upon  the  active  list  of  the  Turkish 
navy.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  tremendous  forti¬ 
fications  which  line  both  sides  of  the  Bosporus  and  the 
Hellespont  are  in  any  better  order,  even  though  most 
of  the  guns  are  modern  and  an  enormous  amount  of 
money  has  been  expended  in  reconstructing  and  arm¬ 
ing  them  in  recent  years  in  order  to  make  Constanti¬ 
nople  impregnable. 


20  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  steamer  threads  its  way  through  the  thickly 
settled  islands  of  the  Aegean  Sea,  hallowed  by  the 
mythology  of  the  ancients  and  by  associations  with 
profane  and  sacred  history.  We  pass  Mitylene,  the 
island  which  the  French  seized  in  1901  to  hold  as  a 
hostage  until  the  sultan  paid  a  firm  of  Paris  contractors 
for  building  some  docks  at  Salonica,  and  coast  along 
under  a  picturesque  mountain  range  until  we  arrive  at 
Smyrna,  a  lovely  place  of  semi-tropical  climate,  so 
clean  as  to  furnish  a  striking  contrast  with  Constanti¬ 
nople.  The  streets  are  well  paved;  the  houses  are 
newly  painted,  the  gardens  are  alluring,  the  people  are 
attractive  in  appearance,  and  everything  seems  pros¬ 
perous  and  in  good  repair. 

Smyrna  is  the  smartest  town  in  Turkey  so  far  as 
trade  is  concerned.  It  does  a  bigger  business  than 
Constantinople.  It  is  the  headquarters  of  the  wool 
and  of  the  rug  and  carpet  trade.  The  custom  there  is 
the  same  in  Constantinople.  Turkish  and  Persian  rugs 
are  sold  only  in  quantity  by  the  bale  at  the  custom 
house  at  auction,  and  none  of  the  bidders  know  what 
they  are  buying  until  they  have  paid  the  price  and  the 
duty  and  open  the  package.  Sometimes  they  are 
badly  swindled.  At  other  times  they  make  good  bar¬ 
gains,  and  as  a  rule  the  average  runs  evenly.  Not 
even  a  Turkish  speculator  will  pay  a  high  price  for 
goods  he  cannot  examine,  and  as  a  consequence  the 
people  who  make  the  rugs  have  to  suffer  in  low  wages. 
Between  four  and  five  thousand  men,  women,  and  chil¬ 
dren  are  engaged  in  manufacturing  carpet  rugs  within 
the  city  of  Smyrna,  and  about  eighteen  thousand 
within  the  district.  Their  average  earnings,  regulated 
by  their  skill  and  industry,  are  less  than  I  franc  (20 
cents)  a  day,  and  many  of  them  are  genuine  artists. 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND 


21 


The  best  rugs  are  not  made  in  Smyrna.  A  few  fine 
ones  are  produced  there,  but  as  a  rule  only  the  cheap¬ 
est  quality  are  made  because  they  are  more  in  demand 
in  the  European  and  American  markets.  Nearly  all 
the  rugs  are  woven  in  the  households  and  all  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  family  work  at  them,  father,  mother,  and 
children,  relieving  one  another  at  the  same  old-fash¬ 
ioned  looms. 

Smyrna  is  also  the  market  for  rugs  from  all  parts  of 
Asia  Minor,  and  caravans  of  camels  come  in  daily 
bringing  bales  from  the  interior  six  and  eight  hundred 
miles.  Sometimes  the  caravans  are  four  and  five 
months  on  the  journey.  The  prices  for  rugs  there 
seem  very  low,  because  there  is  no  local  demand,  but 
after  you  have  paid  the  packing  and  transportation 
charges,  the  insurance  and  the  duties  in  New  York, 
the  price  mounts  up  to  about  what  you  have  to  pay  in 
New  York  or  Chicago,  and  you  can  make  better  selec¬ 
tions  there.  Several  American  houses  have  buyers 
there,  picking  up  the  best  goods  in  the  market,  which 
are  now  going  to  America  instead  of  to  France  and 
England,  as  formerly. 

Smyrna  is  also  the  headquarters  of  the  Turkish  wool 
trade;  it  is  the  greatest  fig  market  in  the  world,  and 
exports  more  licorice  than  any  other  town.  There  is 
a  fine  harbor  and  a  splendid  quay,  two  and  one-half 
miles  long,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  built  by  an  Eng¬ 
lish  company.  The  hotels,  the  principal  business 
houses  and  the  residences  of  the  wealthy  people  face 
the  bay.  Many  rich  foreign  merchants  live  there — 
Englishmen,  Frenchmen,  and  Germans.  There  is  also 
a  large  Jewish  population,  who,  with  the  Greeks,  con¬ 
trol  the  retail  trade.  The  bazaars  are  fascinating  to 
shoppers,  being  filled  with  curious  oriental  goods, 


22  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


although  we  are  cautioned  by  those  more  familiar  with 
the  facts  than  ourselves  that  most  of  the  tinsel  and 
cheap  jewelry,  the  embroidered  jackets,  and  fierce 
looking  weapons  are  made  in  Germany  and  France, 
and  that  we  must  not  buy  anything  new  in  the  Smyrna 
bazaars  as  genuine  products  of  the  country.  The 
second-hand  stores,  however,  are  filled  with  native 
articles  of  which  there  is  no  doubt.  Hammered  sil¬ 
ver  is  particularly  cheap,  and  the  gold  and  silk 
embroideries  are  much  finer  and  cheaper  than  they  can 
be  bought  anywhere  else  except  in  Damascus,  which  is 
due  to  the  lack  of  demand. 

The  bazaars  of  Smyrna,  like  those  of  Constantinople, 
are  rows  of  small  shops  or  booths  fronting  upon  nar¬ 
row  passageways,  roofed  over  to  keep  out  the  rain,  and 
it  is  quite  alarming  to  strangers  to  come  squarely  up 
against  a  caravan  of  soft-footed  camels,  which  move  as 
silently  as  the  fates  and  are  quite  upon  you  before  you 
are  aware  of  it.  They  stride  through  the  narrow  alleys 
of  the  bazaars  chewing  their  cuds  with  the  greatest 
indifference.  Their  loads  bump  against  the  sides  of 
the  houses  and  often  tear  down  goods  that  are  hang¬ 
ing  outside  the  shop  doors.  The  camels  are  fastened 
together  by  ropes  and  led  by  an  old  Arab  upon  a  don¬ 
key,  which  looks  very  odd  and  diminutive  beside  the 
monstrous  beasts. 

Smyrna  is  a  very  old  city  and  has  always  been 
famous  for  its  commerce  and  wealth.  It  was  notable  in 
the  earliest  history  of  Christianity  and  was  the  seat  of 
one  of  the  seven  churches  of  Asia  referred  to  by  St. 
John  in  the  Revelation. 

Twenty-four  miles  in  the  interior,  reached  by  a  rail¬ 
way  in  two  hours,  are  the  ruins  of  the  once  splendid 
City  of  Ephesus,  one  of  the  most  populous,  powerful, 


GATEWAY  OF  THE  TEMPLE  OF  DIANA  OF  THE  EPHESIANS. 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  23 


and  cultured  communities  of  ancient  times.  The 
chief  object  of  interest  there  now  is  the  ruins  of  the 
Temple  of  Diana — Diana  of  the  Ephesians — one  of 
the  largest  and  most  magnificent  structures  ever 
erected  by  human  hands,  grander  and  more  extensive 
than  the  temples  upon  the  Acropolis  at  Athens,  or  the 
pagan  shrines  in  Rome.  There  was  never  anything  to 
compare  with  it  except  the  Temples  of  the  Sun  at 
Baalbek.  The  ruins  have  been  excavated  with  great 
skill  by  J.  T.  Wood,  an  English  archeologist,  who  pub¬ 
lished  the  results  of  his  discoveries  in  1877.  Ephesus 
was  one  of  the  chief  cities  in  Greek  mythology,  next 
in  importance  to  Athens  for  learning  and  art,  and  after 
Jerusalem,  the  holiest  of  Christian  cities.  To-day 
it  is  a  small  village,  inhabited  only  by  the  families  of 
shepherds,  who  follow  their  flocks  upon  the  neighbor¬ 
ing  hillsides. 

The  little,  rocky  island  of  Samos  is  an  object  of 
great  interest  to  the  lovers  of  human  liberty,  and  is 
famous  for  other  reasons — for  its  climate  and  its  nat¬ 
ural  beauties.  It  is  as  beautiful  as  Capri  in  the  Bay  of 
Naples,  and  the  inhabitants  claim  that  people  who  go 
there  never  die.  At  least  we  were  not  able  to  find  a 
cemetery.  At  Samos  it  is  always  June,  and  the 
veracious  natives  will  assure  you  with  sober  faces  that 
the  temperature  is  never  too  hot  and  never  too  cold, 
but  always  just  exactly  as  everybody  wants  it.  The 
cigarettes  of  Samos  are  the  best  in  the  market.  The 
tobacco  is  grown  on  the  sunny  slopes  of  the  rocky 
hills,  but  the  supply  is  limited,  and  most  of  the  cigar¬ 
ettes  are  sent  to  special  dealers  in  London,  Paris,  and 
other  European  capitals  for  the  consumption  of  the 
royal  families,  the  nobility,  and  the  high-class  clubs 
and  hotels.  Russia  is  the  largest  market.  The  wines 


24  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


of  Samos  are  also  celebrated,  but  the  area  in  vineyards 
is  small,  and,  like  the  tobacco,  the  entire  yield  is  sold 
to  special  buyers  and  never  reaches  the  general  market. 
The  population  is  54,000 — all  Greeks,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  seventy-seven  Turkish  officials.  Vathy,  the 
capital  and  commercial  metropolis,  has  6,000  people. 

In  the  classic  period  Samos  was  a  power  in  the 
world — the  seat  of  a  famous  university,  a  center  of  cul¬ 
ture,  manners,  art,  and  sciences,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  renowned  for  their  scholarship.  Vathy  was  the 
birthplace  of  Pythagoras,  and  has  produced  many 
other  famous  men.  When  Greece  was  conquered  by 
the  Turks  four  hundred  years  ago,  Samos  was  forced 
to  accept  the  authority  of  the  sultan,  but  it  was  always 
restless,  and  revolutions  were  continuous.  Since  1826, 
the  epoch  of  Greek  liberty,  the  people  have  been  semi¬ 
independent,  paying  an  annual  tribute  of  $10,000  to 
the  sultan  and  accepting  the  authority  of  a  governor- 
general,  or  prince-regent,  as  they  call  him,  of  the  sul¬ 
tan’s  selection,  although  according  to  the  treaty  he 
must  be  a  Greek  and  a  member  of  the  Orthodox  Greek 
faith.  The  recent  governor,  Michele  Gregoriadis,  was 
very  unpopular,  and  his  appointment  was  considered 
an  evasion  of  the  spirit  of  the  treaty,  for,  although  he 
was  of  Greek  ancestry,  he  was  born  in  the  Turkish  prov¬ 
ince  of  Trebizond,  educated  at  the  court  of  the  sultan 
at  Constantinople,  and  consequently  was  a  thorough 
Turk,  with  little  or  no  sympathy  with  the  people  of 
Samos  and  much  more  with  their  enemies.  The 
people  demanded'  a  change  and  the  selection  of  a 
native  of  Samos,  but  were  not  gratified,  although  the 
new  governor,  Mavroyeni  Bey,  is  a  liberal  man,  a 
Greek  by  birth,  a  member  of  the  Greek  Orthodox 
Church,  and  lived  at  Washington  for  ten  years  as  the 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND 


25 


Turkish  minister.  His  father  was  the  private  physi¬ 
cian  of  the  sultan  of  Turkey  for  many  years  and  man¬ 
aged  to  perform  his  delicate  duties  at  the  Yildiz  Kiosk 
and  in  the  harem  without  losing  the  confidence  or 
exciting  the  suspicion  of  his  imperial  master,  who  is 
without  doubt  the  most  difficult  man  to  please  in  all 
the  earth. 

The  sultan  has  been  very  generous  with  the  people 
of  Samos,  however,  having  returned  their  annual  trib¬ 
ute  to  be  added  to  the  building  fund  of  the  new 
house  of  parliament,  which  is  in  the  course  of  con¬ 
struction  and  nearly  completed,  at  a  cost  of  $50,000. 
A  new  cathedral  of  the  Greek  church,  which  will  cost 
the  same  amount,  is  also  building  in  a  lot  adjoining  the 
capitol  grounds,  and  is  to  be  paid  for  from  the  public 
treasury  and  private  contribution.  In  the  legislative 
chamber  are  life-size  portraits  of  the  leaders  of  the 
revolution  against  Turkey,  which  lasted  eight  years 
and  resulted  in  the  present  system  of  autonomy.  The 
people  have  always  been  remarkable  for  their  love  of 
liberty,  their  patriotism,  and  their  loyalty  to  the 
Orthodox  Greek  Church. 

Vathy  is  the  cleanest  town  we  have  seen  since  we 
left  Norway — so  neat  that  you  could  eat  your  dinner 
off  the  street  pavement  anywhere  and  not  swallow  half 
as  much  dirt  as  you  would  under  ordinary  circum¬ 
stances  at  the  hotels  of  other  Turkish  towns.  The 
houses  are  in  perfect  repair  and  tastefully  painted. 
Over  each  doorway  is  a  wreath  of  leaves,  a  bunch  of 
small  vegetables  or  a  wisp  of  wheat  or  oats,  a  tribute 
offered  to  the  God  of  Plenty  at  the  beginning  of  the 
season.  The  same  custom  prevails  in  Norway,  and  it 
is  a  pretty  one,  an  acknowledgement  that  the  pros¬ 
perity  of  the  people  does  not  depend  entirely  upon  the 


26  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


fertility  of  the  soil  or  their  own  labor,  but  upon  the 
benevolence  of  a  higher  power.  There  are  no  mosques 
in  Vathy,  but  several  neatly-kept  Greek  churches. 
The  schoolhouses  are  large  and  airy.  An  academy,  at 
which  the  higher  branches  are  taught,  with  a  gymna¬ 
sium  beside  it,  is  an  object  of  great  pride  among  the 
people,  who  have  also  a  public  library  and  a  museum, 
containing  a  small  collection  of  antiquities  and  objects 
of  natural  history,  intelligently  classified  and  well 
kept.  Vathy  is  altogether  a  most  charming  town  and 
a  most  grateful  place  to  visit  for  one  who  has  been 
living  in  the  filth  and  the  confusion  of  Constantinople 
and  other  Turkish  communities. 

About  twenty  miles  away  is  the  Island  of  Patmos, 
to  which  John,  the  beloved  apostle,  was  banished  by 
the  Roman  Emperor  Domitian,  A.  D.  94,  and  where 
he  had  the  vision  of  the  Apocalypse. 

“I,  John,  who  also  am  your  brother  and  companion 
in  tribulation,  and  in  the  knowledge  and  patience  of 
Jesus  Christ,  was  in  the  isle  that  is  called  Patmos  for 
the  word  of  God  and  for  the  testimony  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

“I  was  in  the  spirit  on  the  Lord’s  day,  and  heard 
behind  me  a  great  voice  as  of  a  trumpet, 

“Saying,  I  am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the 
last,  and  what  thou  seest  write  in  a  book,  and  send  it 
unto  the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia,  unto 
Ephesus  and  unto  Smyrna,”  etc. 

Patmos  is  a  much  smaller  island  than  Samos,  only 
twenty-eight  miles  in  circumference,  and  having  but 
4,000  population — all  Greeks,  but  under  Turkish  domi¬ 
nation.  A  cave  in  which  St.  John  is  said  to  have  lived 
and  to  have  written  the  book  of  Revelation  is  now  a 
Greek  chapel,  where  numerous  lamps  are  kept  con- 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  27 


tinually  burning.  It  is  a  resort  for  pilgrims — thou¬ 
sands  coming  every  year,  chiefly  from  Russia,  to  pray, 
particular  efficacy  being  attributed  to  prayers  offered 
at  that  altar.  From  these  pilgrims  much  of  the  reve¬ 
nues  of  the  island  come.  Religious  shrines  are  the 
most  profitable  of  all  enterprises  in  the  East,  but  the 
regular  vocation  of  the  people  of  Patmos  is  in  tending 
vineyards,  making  wine,  and  herding  sheep. 

Tarsus,  the  birthplace  of  St.  Paul,  is  on  the  main 
coast  of  Asia  Minor,  and  can  be  reached  by  a  little 
narrow-gauge  railway  from  the  !  port  of  Mersina.  As 
the  steamers  usually  lie  there  all  day,  passengers  have 
an  opportunity  to  make  an  excursion  to  the  boyhood 
home  of  the  great  apostle,  a  journey  of  about  two  and 
a  half  hours — but  there  is  very  little  to  see  when  you 
get  there  and  no  hotel.  The  best  way  is  to  have  the 
steward  of  the  steamer  put  up  a  luncheon  for  you  to 
carry  along.  In  the  time  of  the  Caesars,  Tarsus  was 
an  important  city,  with  extensive  industries  and  a 
large  trade.  It  was  famous  for  a  school  of  philosophy, 
and  the  mere  fact  that  he  came  from  Tarsus  gave  Paul 
a  prestige  for  learning  and  wisdom.  The  population 
is  now  reduced  to  about  15,000.  The  people  are 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  which  grows 
luxuriantly  upon  the  unhealthy  lowlands  in  the  vicinity 
of  Tarsus.  The  climate  is  hot  and  the  city  is  unspeak¬ 
ably  filthy.  About  half  the  population  are  Christians. 

Antioch,  the  cradle  of  Christianity,  can  be  reached 
from  the  port  of  Alexandretta  by  an  all  day’s  ride  over 
a  wretched  road  which  was  built  twenty  centuries  ago 
by  the  Romans  and  looks  as  if  it  had  not  been  repaired 
since.  The  whole  country  is  covered  with  ruins,  the 
result  of  destruction  both  by  God  and  by  man.  This 
region  is  subject  to  frequent  earthquakes,  and  by  them 


28  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


was  the  splendid  city  of  St.  Paul’s  time  overthrown. 
The  Crusaders  destroyed  nearly  everything  that  was 
left,  and  in  1872  there  was  a  tremendous  shaking  which 
overturned  and  effaced  some  of  the  most  interesting 
relics  of  Roman  construction. 

Alexander  the  Great  was  the  actual  founder  of  Anti¬ 
och.  He  selected  it  as  the  site  for  a  temple  to  Jupiter, 
which  drew  a  large  population,  and  it  became  the  cap¬ 
ital  of  the  Macedonian  dynasty.  Pompey  captured  it 
in  the  year  64.  Many  Romans  removed  there,  the 
Emperor  Tiberius  built  palaces  and  other  public  build¬ 
ings;  it  was  the  favorite  residence  of  Caligula,  Trajan, 
and  Hadrian,  and  under  Diocletian  became  the  most 
luxurious  and  magnificent  city  of  the  age.  The 
Orentes  River,  which  has  since  filled  up  with  silt,  was 
then  navigable  for  Roman  galleys,  and  its  banks  were 
lined  with  wharves  and  warehouses.  The  commerce 
of  Antioch  extended  from  the  pillars  of  Hercules  to 
Peking.  Caravans  from  China  and  India  were  con¬ 
tinually  crossing  the  desert  laden  with  merchandise 
to  be  exchanged  for  the  products  of  Europe.  If  you 
want  to  know  something  about  Antioch  at  that  period 
read  the  descriptions  in  “Ben-Hur,”  which  are 
undoubtedly  the  most  scholarly  and  accurate  ever 
written,  although  I  am  told  that  General  Wallac®  had 
never  seen  the  city. 

Under  the  Emperor  Theodosius,  Antioch  reached  its 
greatest  magnificence  and  importance,  and  became  the 
actual  capital  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  greatest 
commercial  city  of  the  world.  The  population  is  said 
to  have  been  several  millions.  The  city  walls  as  now 
traced  were  more  than  twelve  miles  in  circumference. 
In  the  years  457  and  458  terrible  earthquakes  occurred, 
the  temples  and  palaces  were  overthrown,  and  no 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  29 


fewer  than  250,000  persons  perished.  In  528  another 
succession  of  catastrophies  occurred,  with  10,000  or 
more  victims.  Five  hundred  years  later,  when  the 
Crusaders  under  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  made  Antioch 
their  headquarters,  the  city  was  the  scene  of  continual 
conflicts  and  massacres,  fires  and  havoc,  and  the  better 
part  of  it  was  destroyed. 

Modern  Antioch  is  a  miserable  collection  of  non¬ 
descript  and  filthy  dwellings,  half  modern,  half  anc¬ 
ient,  with  walls  of  mud  and  roofs  of  corrugated  iron 
and  machine-cut  slate  imported  from  Europe.  The 
streets  are  narrow  and  the  pavements  are  covered  with* 
filth.  There  is  no  hotel.  Strangers  who  are  not  so 
fortunate  as  to  bring  letters  of  introduction  must  seek 
shelter  at  a  khan,  where  the  caravans  make  their  head¬ 
quarters  and  the  camels  are  fed.  They  must  furnish 
their  own  bedding  from  necessity,  and  after  the  first 
meal  they  will  provide  their  own  provisions  from 
choice.  There  is  said  to  be  18,000  population,  of 
whom  4,000  are  Greeks  and  Armenian  Christians. 
The  remainder  are  Turks  and  Jews.  The  chief  indus¬ 
try  is  the  manufacture  of  licorice  from  the  root  we 
used  to  chew  in  childhood.  It  is  crushed  and  pressed 
and  the  juice  is  boiled  until  it  reaches  a  certain  con¬ 
sistency,  when  it  is  poured  into  molds  and  allowed  to 
harden  into  sticks  such  as  you  see  in  the  drug  stores. 
There  is  a  good  deal  of  leather  work  done  in  Antioch, 
and  there  are  several  soap  factories,  but,  judging 
from  appearances,  there  is  no  local  demand  for  their 
product.  Sugar  cane  grows  with  great  luxuriance, 
but  there  is  no  factory  to  utilize  it.  Some  unrefined 
sugar  is  made  by  hand  for  local  consumption. 

The  ruins  of  the  palaces  and  temples  of  the  Roman 
era  are  mostly  effaced,  but  the  stadium,  the  scene  of 


30  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  chariot  race  in  “Ben  Hur,’  can  still  be  distinctly- 
traced.  Near  by,  in  the  side  of  a  cliff,  a  splendid 
female  figure  of  Titanic  size  was  carved  in  the  living 
rock  by  the  Emperor  Antiochus  Epiphanes  to  avert  a 
pestilence  from  the  city,  and  it  has  been  almost  per¬ 
fectly  preserved.  The  island  park  of  Daphne,  so 
vividly  described  in  “Ben  Hur,”  where  the  nymph  is 
said  to  have  been  metamorphosed  into  a  laurel  when 
pursued  by  Apollo,  is  covered  with  ruins  of  buildings, 
fountains,  baths,  aqueducts,  fragments  of  columns  and 
carved  marble,  and  there  are  several  artificial  grottoes 
and  numerous  waterfalls,  which  gave  the  place  its 
greatest  attraction  to  the  Romans.  One  can  sit  among 
the  crumbling  marble  of  the  temples  to  Artemis,  Isis, 
Aphrodite,  and  other  deities,  in  this  scene  of  perhaps 
the  grossest  profligacy  in  all  history,  and  read  General 
Wallace’s  descriptions  with  great  satisfaction.  To 
the  student  of  Christian  history  Antioch  has  attractions 
second  only  to  Jerusalem  and  Rome,  for  here,  where 
was  organized  one  of  the  first  churches  of  Gentile  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Jesus,  they  were  called  Christians,  a  term  of 
derision  which  they  afterward  accepted;  from  here  Paul 
started  on  his  missionary  tour,  and  here  Peter  was 
elected  the  first  bishop  of  the  church.  The  clergy  of 
Antioch  ranked  with  those  of  Alexandria  and  Rome 
at  the  Nicaean  Council,  and  at  the  time  of  Constantine 
there  are  said  to  have  been  200,000  Christians  in  the 
city,  who  had  the  finest  church  then  standing,  called 
the  Church  of  the  Apostles. 

You  meet  all  sorts  of  people  traveling  here, interest¬ 
ing  and  uninteresting,  representatives  of  every  race  and 
religion.  The  Turkish  Empire,  the  states  in  the  inte¬ 
rior  of  Asia  and  those  upon  the  Mediterranean  coast  of 
Africa  furnish  many  picturesque  characters.  Among 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  31 


other  passengers  on  our  steamer  was  the  new  Turkish 
governor  of  Palestine.  He  is  a  handsome  man,  with  a 
gentle,  refined  face,  a  melancholy  eye  and  a  deferential 
way  about  him,  although  perhaps  he  is  not  as  amiable 
as  he  looks.  As  to  Turks,  appearances  are  said  to  be 
very  deceptive.  I  have  been  told  that  the  mildest- 
mannered  men  among  them  are  the  most  ferocious, 
relentless,  and  vindictive,  and  in  times  of  massacre  and 
torturing  come  out  particularly  strong.  But  we  could 
not  help  admiring  the  gentleness  of  demeanor,  the 
perfect  composure  and  graceful  courtesy  of  this  Turk¬ 
ish  official,  who  seemed  to  be  so  unselfish  and  con¬ 
siderate.  The  sultan  has  the  same  winning  ways. 
People  who  have  seen  him  say  that  he  is  one  of  the 
most  charming  and  attractive  of  men;  that  he  would 
not  injure  a  fly.  Our  gentle  governor  had  been  for 
many  years  a  private  secretary  of  Abdul  Hamid,  and 
perhaps  may  have  acquired  the  manners  of  his  impe¬ 
rial  master.  He  had  just  been  appointed  and  was  on 
his  way  to  his  new  post  of  duty.  Many  people  came 
down  to  the  steamer  at  Constantinople  to  see  him  off, 
and  the  deference  they  paid  him  showed  that  he  is 
either  a  powerful  or  a  popular  man.  They  kissed  his 
hands  and  the  skirt  of  his  coat,  and  the  servants  who 
attended  him  bowed  their  heads  to  the  floor  and 
touched  their  lips  to  his  shoes. 

Another  passenger  was  a  native  of  Syria,  who  had 
been  engaged  in  business  in  New  York  for  ten  or 
twelve  years,  and  had  not  been  home  during  all  that 
time.  He  told  me  that  there  are  40,000  Syrians  in  the 
United  States.  We  had  with  us  also  a  doctor  who  had 
been  graduated  at  the  American  College  at  Beirut,  and 
had  gone  to  the  United  States  for  medical  lectures. 

Our  most  interesting  passenger,  however,  was  a 


32  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


merchant  from  Bokhara  on  his  way  to  China  to  buy 
tea.  His  route  seemed  a  little  roundabout,  but  he 
expected  to  be  home  again  six  months  from  the  date 
of  his  departure.  We  saw  many  Bokharans  in  Con¬ 
stantinople.  They  can  be  easily  identified  by  their 
costume,  like  the  representatives  of  the  other  Asiatic 
races — the  rough,  wild-looking  fellows  in  long  sheep¬ 
skin  coats  from  the  Caucasus  Mountains,  the  Persians 
with  fezzes  made  of  black  lamb’s  wool,  and  the  people 
from  Turkestan  who  have  strong  Mongolian  features. 
Bokhara  is  in  the  center  of  Asia,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  Hindu-Kush  range  of  mountains,  which  divides 
the  worshipers  of  Buddha  from  those  of  Mohammed, 
and  it  is  through  that  region  that  Russia  has  advanced 
with  a  threatening  hand  toward  British  India.  The 
Bokharans  are  handsome  men  with  Greek  features,  fine 
dark  eyes,  black  hair,  thin  beards  and  mustaches  and 
light  brown  complexions.  They  wear  long  surtouts 
of  light  blue  color  and  fezzes  of  gray  lamb’s  wool. 

Our  friend,  the  tea  merchant,  Fazli-lie  Mean 
Mohammet,  came  from  his  home  in  Bokhara  by  rail¬ 
road  to  the  port  of  Krasnovodsk,  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  Caspian  Sea,  whence  he  sailed  to  Baku,  a  Rus¬ 
sian  port  at  the  foot  of  the  Caucasian  Mountains.  A 
military  road  crosses  this  range  to  Batoum  on  the 
Black  Sea,  whence  there  are  regular  steamers  to  Con¬ 
stantinople.  After  a  short  stay  at  the  latter  city  he 
started  by  the  Syrian  coast  for  Port  Said,  where  he 

will  take  a  boat  for  Bombay  and  cross  India  by  rail- 

/ 

way.  In  the  central  part  of  India,  at  the  City  of 
Hyderabad,  articles  of  silver  are  manufactured  of 
designs  that  are  greatly  admired  by  the  people  of  Bok¬ 
hara.  He  intended  to  stop  there  to  make  some  pur¬ 
chases,  and  then  go  on  to  Colombo,  in  Ceylon,  at  the 


HIGHWAYS  TO  THE  HOLY  LAND  33 


extreme  south  of  India,  where  he  takes  a  steamer  for 
Shanghai  direct.  In  June  of  each  year  the  tea  mer¬ 
chants  gather  at  Shanghai  from  all  parts  of  the  world, 
and  the  buying  begins  on  a  certain  date. 

“How  much  tea  do  you  expect  to  buy?”  I  asked 
him. 

“One  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  Russian  poods,” 
he  replied.  “A  pood  is  thirty-six  English  pounds, 
which  makes  a  total  of  4,680,000  pounds.” 

His  purchase  will  be  shipped  from  Shanghai  by 
steamer  to  Vladivostok,  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
Trans-Siberian  Railroad.  From  there  it  will  be  carried 
to  Irkutsk  by  rail  and  then  through  central  Asia,  where 
Europeans  have  rarely  been,  a  journey  of  forty-five 
days  by  camels  to  Tackend,  the  principal  commercial 
city  of  Bokhara.  Formerly  tea  was  shipped  all  the 
way  from  Shanghai  by  camels,  and  was  several  months 
on  the  road.  It  requires  many  camels  to  carry  4,000,- 
000  pounds. 

“Wouldn’t  it  be  easier  and  quicker  to  go  by  boat 
from  Shanghai  to  Constantinople  and  the’n  across  the 
Black  and  Caspian  Seas,  as  you  came?” 

“Yes,  but  the  tea  would  not  be  so  good.  Long  sea 
voyages,  especially  through  tropical  climates,  seriously 
injure  tea,  and  the  extreme  salt  atmosphere  of  the 
Black  and  Caspian  Seas,  which  must  be  crossed,  would 
do  great  damage  in  a  short  time.  The  tea  would 
become  saturated  with  the  salted  moisture  in  the  air 
and  the  flavor  would  be  ruined.  Overland  tea  is  in 
greater  demand  and  brings  much  higher  prices.  The 
people  of  my  country  are  very  fastidious  about  their 
tea  and  drink  very  little  else,  so  we  take  it  to  them  in 
the  way  they  prefer,  even  if  it  is  a  little  more  trouble.” 

Our  Bokhara  friend  was  a  Moslem  and  observed 


34  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  devotional  hours  of  his  faith  with  great  regularity. 
He  set  a  good  example  to  the  Christians  on  board,  and 
we  had  quite  of  a  number  of  “sky  pilots"  of  different 
denominations.  There  was  a  Greek  priest  with  a  big 
beard,  a  big  voice,  and  a  cheerful  disposition,  who  was 
singing  to  himself  all  day  long,  and  a  tall,  lean, 
Roman  Catholic  priest  with  a  hungry  and  anxious  look. 
A  handsome  Franciscan  monk  had  a  little  boy  with 
him,  and  they  seemed  to  be  great  chums;  and  two  sis¬ 
ters  of  charity  with  calm,  sweet  faces  and  pensive  blue 
eyes  were  on  their  way  to  a  hospital  in  Jerusalem.  An 
English  parson  was  very  seasick,  but  kept  his  nerve 
and  read  service  for  us  on  Sunday,  and  an  agent  of  the 
British  Bible  Society  preached  a  very  good  sermon. 
Then,  we  had  an  Englishman  who  makes  olive  wood 
relics  in  Jerusalem.  The  agent  of  the  bible  society 
told  us  that  he  was  a  “godly  man”  and  never  sold 
crosses,  because  he  did  not  believe  in  encouraging 
ritualism. 


II 

The  Center  of  Mission  Work 

in  Syria 


35 


THE  SHORE  ROAD  AT  BEIRUT. 


II 


THE  CENTER  OF  PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY 

WORK  IN  SYRIA 

Beirut  presents  a  noble  front  to  the  world,  and  well 
it  may,  backed  by  range  after  range  of  mighty  moun¬ 
tains  which  spend  their  winters  under  blankets  of 
snow  and  their  summers  bathed  in  a  flood  of  sun¬ 
shine.  They  are  the  most  famous  of  all  mountains. 
More  people  have  no  doubt  heard  and  read  of  them 
than  of  any  other.  The  Lebanons  were  the  theme  of 
the  Song  of  Solomon  and  the  Psalms  of  David,  and  all 
through  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  they  are  praised. 
They  are  much  higher  than  I  supposed.  People  who 
have  not  informed  themselves  are  always  surprised  to 
see  snow-clad  peaks  rising  immediately  from  the 
Mediterranean  in  that  semi-tropical  region.  Mount 
Sannin  is  8,555  ^eet  high  and  Mount  Hermon,  which 
culminates  in  three  peaks,  is  9,050. 

The  sun  was  blazing  fiercely  as  the  steamer  ap¬ 
proached  the  shore,  and  a  vague  haze  hung  like  a  veil 
between  the  foot-hills  and  the  sea,  giving  them  a  mys¬ 
terious  appearance.  Above  the  curtain  arose  long 
lines  of  sierras,  rugged  and  jagged,  whose  crests  glis¬ 
tened  like  mirrors  and  made  you  turn  your  eyes  sea¬ 
ward  for  relief.  The  first  thought  that  comes  to  the 
mind  when  one  looks  upon  this  marvelous  landscape 
is  the  history  that  those  hills  have  hidden;  the  acts 
and  words  that  have  been  done  and  said  within  their 
shadows;  the  portentous  dramas  affecting  every  race 
and  nation  that  have  been  enacted  with  the  peaks  of 
Lebanon  as  a  background. 

3  7 


38  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Why  should  all  the  great  religions  of  mankind, 
except  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism,  have  been  con¬ 
ceived  in  the  narrow  strip  of  territory  between  those 
mountains  and  the  desert? 

Mount  Hermon  was  a  holy  mountain  before  Scripture 
days,  and  prehistoric  temples,  shrines,  and  altars  for 
sacrifice  are  scattered  over  it.  We  read  of  the  ancient 
worship  in  the  days  of  Abraham,  when  sacrifices  were 
made  in  the  caves  and  gorges  that  break  its  surface. 
The  Hebrews  extolled  its  majestic  heights.  They 
valued  it  as  a  collector  of  clouds.  "Behold  how  good 
and  how  pleasant  it  is  for  brethren  to  dwell  together 
in  unity,”  said  David.  "As  the  dew  of  Hermon,  and 
as  the  dew  that  descended  from  the  mountains  of 
Zion;  for  there  the  Lord  commanded  the  blessing, 
even  life  forevermore.”  Solomon  invites  his  spouse 
to  come  with  him  from  Lebanon,  "From  the  lion’s 
den  and  the  mountain  of  leopards,”  and  people  say 
that  there  are  plenty  of  wild  beasts  there  still.  Bears 
are  frequently  seen  on  Mount  Hermon,  foxes,  wolves, 
and  other  wild  animals  abound.  During  the  winter 
the  snow  line  is  3,000  feet  from  the  summit,  and  the 
shaded  ravines  are  full  all  summer.  In  ancient  times 
it  was  customary  to  bring  down  snow  in  baskets  to 
cool  the  beverages  of  the  men  engaged  in  the  hot 
harvest  fields.  "As  the  cold  of  snow  in  the  time  of 
harvest,  so  is  a  faithful  messenger  to  them  that  send 
him,”  said  Solomon,  "for  he  refresheth  the  soul  of  his 
masters.  ” 

Beirut  is  the  most  prosperous  city  in  Syria,  as  well 
as  the  most  attractive.  The  atmosphere  is  so  clear 
that  you  might  almost  look  for  footprints  in  the  snow 
upon  the  summit  of  Mount  Hermon,  thirty  miles  away. 
The  plains  around  the  city  are  occupied  with  gardens 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  39 


and  orchards  of  olives  and  figs,  which  are  said  to  be 
the  most  productive  in  all  the  land,  and  there  are  sev¬ 
eral  pine  forests  which  have  been  planted  by  successive 
governors  of  Beirut  for  250  years.  In  the  suburbs, 
wherever  irrigation  can  reach,  the  soil  produces  won¬ 
ders.  The  groves  of  orange  and  lemon,  mulberry,  fig, 
almond,  and  apricot  trees  are  radiant  just  now  with 
their  new  spring  garments,  and  their  blossoms  are 
loading  the  air  with  their  fragrance.  Groups  of  stately 
palms,  the  proudest  and  the  vainest  of  trees,  toss  their 
feathery  plumes  in  the  sunlight,  and  the  ugly  walls 
and  trellises  are  covered  with  flowering  vines.  There 
is  a  purple  flower — I  have  not  learned  its  name — which 
seems  to  grow  with  greater  glory  than  any  other.  It 
lights  up  the  whole  city  and  gives  a  brightness  and  a 
glow  to  the  place. 

Beirut  has  about  120,000  inhabitants.  Of  these 
36,000  are  Moslems,  35,000  Orthodox  Greeks,  28,000 
Maronites,  9,000  United  Greeks,  2,500  Jews,  1,800 
Roman  Catholics,  2,100  Protestant  and  representatives 
of  five  or  six  other  religions.  The  European  colony 
numbers  4,300.  There  are  six  hospitals,  twenty- 
three  mosques,  thirty-eight  Christian  churches,  sixty- 
five  schools  for  boys,  and  twenty-nine  for  girls,  with 
6,700  and  4, 100  pupils  respectively.  There  are  asylums 
for  the  blind  and  other  afflicted,  orphanages  for  the 
care  of  fatherless  children,  kindergartens  and  day 
nurseries  for  the  benefit  of  the  little  ones,  and  every 
sort  of  institution  that  is  expected  in  modern  cities. 
It  is  surprising  how  many  of  the  Syrians  speak  English 
and  how  large  a  number  have  once  lived  in  the  United 
States.  In  spite  of  all  the  impediments  thrown  by  the 
government  in  the  way  of  emigration,  from  3,000  to 
4,000  go  to  the  United  States  every  year.  They  prac- 


4o  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tice  the  utmost  industry  and  live  with  the  utmost 
frugality  in  their  new  homes,  and  as  soon  as  they  have 
accumulated  a  little  property  the  most  of  them  return 
to  their  beloved  Syria  to  spend  the  remainder  of 
their  days. 

American  missionary  work  was  begun  in  Palestine  at 
Jerusalem  in  1821  by  Levi  Parsons,  a  Presbyterian.  He 
was  joined  by  Pliny  Fisk  and  Jonas  King  in  1823,  but 
in  1825  they  were  compelled  to  retire  because  of 
political  disturbances  and  the  missions  were  suspended 
for  nine  years.  In  1823  Isaac  Bird  and  William 
Goodell,  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 
landed  at  Beirut,  opened  a  school  and  began  to  circu¬ 
late  the  Holy  Scriptures  among  the  people,  but  two 
years  later  they  also  were  compelled  to  withdraw 
until  1830.  Since  the  latter  date  work  has  been  con¬ 
tinuous,  this  field  being  allotted  to  the  Presbyterians 
in  1870.  Until  1840  Protestantism  was  religio  illicita , 
but  in  that  year  was  recognized  by  the  sultan  as  one  of 
the  religions  of  Turkey.  In  1844  Sultan  Abdul  Medjid 
issued  a  firmin  forbidding  persecution  and  interference. 
In  1850  he  granted  “The  Imperial  Protestant  Charter 
of  Rights,”  guaranteeing  Protestants  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  the  other  religious  sects  of  the  empire. 
In  1850  was  proclaimed  the  famous  edict  guaranteeing 
that  Moslem  converts  to  Christianity  should  not  be 
put  to  death.  This  was  due  to  an  event  which  shocked 
the  world.  A  young  Moslem  was  publicly  beheaded 
at  Constantinople  for  becoming  a  Christian.  But  the 
letter  as  well  as  the  spirit  of  this  charter  has  always 
been  evaded.  The  Turks  do  not  understand  the  mean¬ 
ing  of  religious  liberty.  Freedom  of  conscience  has 
never  existed  for  Mohammedans,  and  those  who  aban¬ 
don  the  faith  of  their  fathers  do  so  with  the  penalty  of 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  41 


death  upon  them.  But  if  there  were  no  greater 
obstacles  the  pride  of  the  Turk  would  prevent  him 
from  adopting  Christianity,  even  if  he  ceased  to  have 
faith  in  his  own  religion.  In  the  Turkish  Empire  none 
but  Mohammedans  may  rule  or  serve  in  the  civil  or 
military  services.  Christians  of  whatever  sect  are  in  a 
state  of  subjection. 

While  there  is  no  official  restriction  upon  Christians 
and  interference  with  their  work  and  worship  is  prohib¬ 
ited,  active  opposition  is  constantly  felt  in  an  indi¬ 
rect  way  from  the  officials  of  the  government  and  the 
municipalities  and  of  an  exasperating  character.  The 
most  patient  and  persistent  efforts  often  fail  to  secure 
the  fulfillment  of  promises  and  the  Christian  has  no 
remedy  against  the  violation  of  contracts.  It  may  be 
said  that  this  applies  to  all  religious  communities 
except  Mohammedans.  Protestants,  particularly 
American  Protestants,  are  treated  as  well  as  anybody 
and  perhaps  a  little  better  than  others,  because  they 
are  few  in  number,  they  are  entirely  exempt  from  all 
political -complications,  they  seek  no  favors,  they  pay 
for  what  they  get  on  liberal  terms  and  are  the  most 
intelligent,  progressive,  and  benevolent  portion  of  the 
community. 

The  Irish  Presyterian  church  has  a  station  at  Damas¬ 
cus,  where  it  has  taken  over  the  American  interests; 
the  British  Syrian  School  Society  has  schools  at  several 
of  the  cities  and  villages,  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland 
maintains  a  number  of  schools  in  the  Lebanon  district; 
the  Established  Church  of  Scotland  has  a  mission  to 
the  Jews  in  Beirut;  the  Church  of  England  has  several 
stations  in  Palestine;  the  Reformed  Presbyterians  of  the 
United  States  have  missions  among  the  Nusaireeyeh 
people;  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  England  has  a  mis- 


l 


42  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


sion  at  Aleppo  especially  for  the  Jews,  and  there  are 
several  other  Protestant  missionary  enterprises  in 
Syria  in  addition  to  those  of  the  American  Presby¬ 
terian  Board. 

In  i860  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into 
Arabic  was  completed  by  Rev.  Dr.  Cornelius  V.  A. 
Van  Dyke.  The  work  was  begun  in  1848  by  Dr.  Eli 
Smith,  aided  by  Mr.  Bistany,  a  native  scholar,  for¬ 
merly  a  Maronite,  who  is  said  to  have  been  the  most 
learned  as  well  as  the  most  influential  man  in  modern 
Syria.  He  was  the  author  of  the  Arabic  dictionary 
and  the  Arabic  encyclopedia.  The  latter  is  a  com¬ 
prehensive  work  of  twelve  volumes,  a  compilation  and 
translation  from  the  best  English,  American,  French, 
and  German  encyclopedias,  with  additions  and  emen¬ 
dations  appropriate  to  the  Arabic  people.  His  death 
in  1883  was  a  great  loss,  especially  to  literary  and 
scientific  circles.  He  continued  to  assist  Dr.  Van 
Dyke,  who  took  up  the  work  of  translating  the  Bible 
when  Dr.  Smith  died  in  1857,  and  continued  to  be  his 
chief  collaborates.  It  was  a  labor  of  sixteen  years 
for  three  devoted  scholars,  and  was  nearly  all  done  in  a 
little  room  in  the  building  now  occupied  by  the  Beirut 
Female  Seminary.  A  memorial  tablet  in  Arabic  and 
English  was  placed  upon  the  walls  some  years  ago  by 
President  Gilman  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  to 
commemorate  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the 
history  of  missions.  It  must  be  remembered  that  this 
achievement  was  not  for  Syria  alone.  Arabic  is  the 
sacred  language  of  300,000,000  or  400,000,000  people 
who  dwell  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  at  least 
2,000,000  are  now  under  the  care  of  the  United  States 
in  the  Philippine  Islands.  No  scholars  are  so  critical 
as  learned  Arabs,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that, 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  43 


without  exception,  they  pronounce  the  translation  of 
the  Bible  by  Dr.  Smith,  Dr.  Van  Dyke  and  Mr.  Bis- 
tany  accurate  and  classical.  It  is  now  printed  in  New 
York,  London,  and  Beirut  in  different  sizes  and  forms 
and  sold  in  all  Mohammedan  countries.  Since  the 
translation  of  the  Old  Testament  was  finished  in  1865 
over  650,000  copies  have  been  printed  and  sold  to  the 
several  Arab  nations  of  the  earth. 

In  1887  the  majlis  el  maarif,  or  minister  of  public 
instruction,  by  order  of  the  sultan  (Caliph  of  Moham¬ 
med  and  head  of  the  Islam  faith),  placed  the  seal  of 
authorization  upon  thirty-three  different  editions  of 
the  Arabic  scriptures.  Since  that  time  the  local  cen¬ 
sors  have  approved  330  different  American  publica¬ 
tions  in  Arabic. 

One  most  potent  engine  of  civilization  in  Syria  is 
the  American  printing  office,  which  occupies  a  hand¬ 
some  new  building  at  Beirut,  and  is  the  especial  pride 
of  the  American  colony.  It  is  the  largest  and  the 
most  complete  up-to-date  plant  in  Turkey,  and 
four  steam  and  six  hand  presses,  a  lithographing 
and  electrotyping  outfit,  a  type  foundry,  a  book 
bindery  and  other  features  of  a  first-class  printing 
office,  are  kept  busy  turning  out  copies  of  the 
Bible,  religious,  scientific,  and  standard  literature 
and  school  text-books  of  all  grades  in  the  Arabic 
language.  Over  seven  hundred  different  works  in 
Arabic  have  been  published,  and  are  now  offered 
to  the  public.  Last  year  (1901)  28,705,760  pages 
were  printed,  3,000,000  more  than  in  1900,  of  which 
16,000,000  pages  were  scriptures  and  10,000,000 
miscellaneous  books;  41,500  volumes  of  the  scrip¬ 
tures  and  45,400  volumes  of  miscellaneous  liter¬ 
ature  were  printed,  besides  two  newspapers  issued 


44  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


regularly  each  week.  In  1901  27,000  copies  of  the 
Arabic  Bible  were  sold  in  Mohammedan  lands,  7,421 
in  Syria.  It  is  estimated  that  750,000,000  pages  have 
been  published  by  the  American  printing  office  in 
Beriut  since  it  was  established. 

The  managers  are  often  embarrassed  by  the  censor¬ 
ship  of  the  government,  which  is  very  strict,  and  all 
manuscripts  and  proof  sheets  must  be  submitted  to  the 
inspection  of  officials  who  are  not  always  intelligent 
enough  to  understand  the  subjects  they  are  required  to 
decide  upon.  When  in  doubt  they  almost  invariably 
reject.  Very  often  manuscripts  and  books  forwarded 
to  Constantinople  to  be  examined  by  the  chief  censors 
have  been  returned  mutilated  and  disapproved.  Some¬ 
times  the  criticisms  are  absurd  and  insignificant,  and 
matter  which  one  might  expect  would  be  objected  to 
is  passed  without  hesitation.  Most  of  the  books  issued 
by  the  American  press,  however,  have  been  officially 
sanctioned  because  the  editors  have  been  scrupulous  in 
obeying  the  edict  which  requires  them  fo  confine  their 
publications  to  scientific,  moral,  and  religious  ques¬ 
tions  without  adverse  criticism  upon  the  religious 
beliefs  of  any  of  the  sects  in  the  empire. )  The  same 
government  inspection  is  exercised  over  English  books 
imported  through  the  custom  house.  They  are  often 
confiscated  and  burned  without  reason,  but  only  with 
some  pretext,  probably  because  the  inspectors  either 
do  not  have  the  time  or  the  disposition  to  read  them 
and  do  not  dare  let  them  go  through  without.  Chil¬ 
dren’s  books,  the  most  innocent  primers  and  nursery 
rhymes,  are  often  confiscated  because  the  inspectors 
do  not  comprehend  their  meaning.  One  day  an 
American  gentleman  residing  in  Beirut  lost  a  cata¬ 
logue  sent  him  by  a  publishing  house  in  New  York  City 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  45 


because  the  censor  could  not  make  any  meaning  out 
of  it  and  concluded  that  it  must  be  some  seditious 
work  in  cipher. 

That  remarkable  little  volume,  “Black  Beauty,” 
which  has  been  circulated  all  over  the  world  in  many 
languages,  teaching  its  lesson  of  kindness  to  beasts, 
had  to  be  published  under  the  title  “Black  Horse” 
because  the  Turkish  equivalent  for  “Black  Beauty” 
happens  to  be  the  name  of  a  high  official.  The  word 
Armenia  is  not  allowed  to  appear  in  print  since  the 
massacres  four  years  ago,  and  pages  of  the  publica¬ 
tions  issued  by  the  American  printing  office  which 
contain  it  have  had  to  be  reprinted  to  satisfy  the 
inspectors.  More  costly  corrections  have  been 
required  on  the  maps,  for  the  name  Armenia  is  not 
allowed  to  appear  even  in  the  Bible.  The  orders 
of  the  Censor  are  to  strike  out  “Armenia”  when¬ 
ever  it  appears  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  insert 
“Kurdistan”.  Another  curious  and  even  more 
absurd  rule  of  the  censor  is  that  Brazil  shall  continue 
to  be  mentioned  as  a  monarchy  on  the  maps  as  well  as 
in  the  geographies  and  other  publications,  because  the 
sultan  does  not  care  to  have  his  people  know  that 
thrones  are  ever  overturned  and  emperors  are  ever 
deprived  of  power.  All  of  the  Balkan  States,  including 
Servia,  Bulgaria,  Roumania,  Crete,  Cyprus,  and  other 
former  provinces  of  Turkey,  and  about  one-third  of 
the  continent  of  Africa,  from  Egypt  to  Algiers,  must 
appear  as  a  part  of  the  sultan’s  domains  or  the  map  is 
not  allowed  to  be  published.  A  map  of  Palestine  as  it 
was  at  the  time  of  David  and  the  kings  of  Israel  was 
prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  missionaries,  but 
was  suppressed  by  the  Turkish  officials,  who  explained 
that  an  intimation  that  David  or  any  other  king  had 


46  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


ever  ruled  over  the  country  was  disrespect  to  its  pres¬ 
ent  ruler,  the  sultan  of  Turkey. 

The  censor  at  Constantinople  in  1903  ordered  that 
the  text  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  verses  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Thessalonians  be  amended  by  striking  out 
the  name  Macedonia  and  inserting  “the  Vilayets  of 
Salonica  and  Monastir.”  There  is  another  story  that 
the  censor  objected  to  the  sign  H2O  in  an  English 
book  of  chemistry,  because  he  suspected  it  to  be  a 
revolutionary  cypher,  meaning  “Abdul  Hamid  II  is 
naught,”  or  “powerless.” 

It  is  impossible  to  measure  the  value  of  the  results 
accomplished  by  the  American  missionaries  and  the 
printing  office.  Statistics  give  only  a  meager  idea  of 
the  length  and  the  breadth  and  the  depth  of  the  influ¬ 
ence  they  have  exerted  upon  society  and  civilization 
generally.  The  American  College  at  Beirut  and  the 
other  schools  have  created  an  ambition  for  education 
among  the  people  which  the  government  and  other 
religious  denominations  have  been  compelled  to 
satisfy,  but  it  should  be  said  that  the  Protestant  schools 
were  in  operation  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
before  any  others  were  started  in  Palestine  for  general 
education.  Before  that  date  every  educational  insti¬ 
tution  was  purely  ecclesiastic  and  devoted  to  the  train¬ 
ing  of  priests.  In  1894  a  memorial  column  was 
unveiled  at  Beirut  on  the  spot  where  fifty-nine  years 
before  was  established  the  first  school  in  Syria  for  the 
instruction  of  girls.  One  of  the  speakers  was  Miss 
Alice  Bistany,  daughter  of  Dr.  Smith’s  assistant  in 
tanslating  the  Bible.  Her  mother  was  the  first  native 
girl  taught  to  read  in  Syria.  )  The  schools  of  Beirut 
alone  illustrate  how  effective  has  been  the  force  of 
example.  Nearly  every  religious  denomination  now 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  47 


maintains  them.  The  training  schools  established  by 
the  American  mission  for  the  higher  education  of 
teachers  and  for  those  whose  families  are  able  to  pay 
for  such  advantages  have  also  done  a  great  work,  and 
their  graduates  are  found  in  every  part  of  the  Turkish 
Empire.  A  training  school  for  boys  with  a  model 
farm  takes  in  about  350  lads  and  gives  them  a  good 
practical  education.  There  are  always  more  applica¬ 
tions  than  can  be  gratified.  In  1830,  when  the  mis- 
ionaries  returned  from  Malta,  where  they  had  taken 
refuge  during  the  political  disturbances,  the  entire 
Protestant  community  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  consist¬ 
ing  of  five  persons,  came  out  in  a  rowboat  to  welcome 
them.  In  1900  7,000  Protestants  were  registered  in 
Syria  alone  and  75,000  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  Medi¬ 
cal  work  has  always  been  found  the  most  effective  in 
removing  prejudice  and  securing  public  confidence. 
The  professors  of  the  American  College  are  the  medi¬ 
cal  attendants  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John,  which  is  in 
charge  of  the  deaconesses  of  Kaiserwerth  and  owned 
and  supported  by  the  Johanniter  Order,  composed  of 
the  flower  of  the  Protestant  nobility  of  Germany,  with 
the  emperor  as  its  head.  They  treat  about  14,000 
cases  annually. 

Miss  Mary  Pierson  Eddy,  M.  D.,  of  the  Presbyterian 
mission  at  Beirut,  in  the  spring  of  1902  opened  a  free 
hospital  among  the  Maronites,  who  are  the  most 
intolerant  and  the  most  violent  in  their  prejudices 
against  Protestantism,  and  particularly  against  the 
Americans,  of  any  sect  in  Syria.  They  are  a  fierce  and 
fanatical  relic  of  the  ancient  Syrian  church  and  take 
their  name  from  John  Maron,  a  priest  and  patriarch 
of  great  learning  and  piety,  who  died  707  A.  D.  They 
number  about  250,000;  their  head  is  known  as  the 


48  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  he  makes  his  headquarters 
at  the  Convent  of  Deman,  near  the  port  of  Tripoli. 
The  peasants  are  ignorant,  superstitious  and  cruel,  but 
are  industrious,  frugal  and  honest  in  their  dealings. 
They  live  by  agriculture,  have  large  herds  of  cattle  in 
the  Lebanon  Mountains  and  are  particularly  success¬ 
ful  in  silk  culture.  The  Druses  are  their  hereditary 
enemies,  and  between  the  two  sects  continuous  warfare 
has  been  waged  for  centuries.  The  Maronites  are 
equally  hostile  to  the  Turks  and  to  all  Mohammedans, 
and  during  the  middle  ages  were  the  allies  of  the 
Crusaders,  by  whom,  in  the  twelfth  century,  they  were 
brought  under  the  influence  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church,  and  have  since  affiliated  with  them,  although 
they  are  in  no  way  subject  to  ecclesiastical  authority 
and  retain  their  ancient  rites  and  doctrines.  They  are 
also  friendly  with  the  Greek  Catholics. 

Through  the  influence  of  the  Franciscan  fathers  half 
a  century  ago  they  secured  the  protection  of  the 
French  government,  and  with  the  assistance  of  Emperor 
Louis  Napoleon,  after  continuous  revolts  against  the 
Turkish  authorities,  the  Maronites  succeeded  in  secur¬ 
ing  a  certain  degree  of  independence.  They  now  col¬ 
lect  their  own  taxes  in  their  own  way  and  turn  the 
money  over  in  bulk  to  the  representative  of  the  sultan. 
They  select  their  own  sheik  and  other  officials,  sub¬ 
ject  to  his  ratification,  and  they  are  exempt  from  mili¬ 
tary  duty  and  from  the  many  exasperating  annoyances 
and  outrages  to  which  the  remainder  of  the  anti-Moslem 
population  of  Turkey  are  exposed. 

Their  religious  belief  is  difficult  to  comprehend, 
being  a  mixture  of  Jewish  and  Roman  Catholic  rites 
and  doctrines.  Theoretically  they  accept  both  the 
Old  and  the  New  Testaments,  although  the  priests  for- 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK 


49 


bid  the  circulation  of  the  scriptures  among  the  people. 
They  profess  to  observe  the  Mosaic  laws  as  well  as  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  but  have  modified  both  to  meet 
their  tastes  and  surroundings.  They  believe  in  God  as 
a  Creator  and  Jesus  Christ  as  a  Redeemer,  but  reject 
the  dogmas  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  immaculate  con¬ 
ception,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  several  other 
tenets  taught  by  the  Roman  Church.  They  adhere  to 
the  ancient  ritual  of  the  Syrian  faith,  which  is  similar 
to  that  of  the  Jews;  their  service  is  conducted  in  the 
Syriac  language;  their  priests  are  allowed  to  marry 
and  husbands  and  wives  may  be  divorced.  They  have 
very  little  communication  or  relations  with  other 
religious  sects,  are  very  conservative,  remaining  as 
exclusive  and  as  primitive  as  possible;  they  have  their 
own  villages,  in  which  unbelievers  are  not  allowed  to 
reside,  and  Protestant  missionaries  have  met  with 
determined  opposition  whenever  they  have  attempted 
to  establish  schools,  distribute  the  scriptures  or  preach 
among  them.  The  only  martyr  to  the  cause  of  protes- 
tantism  in  Syria  was  a  young  Maronite  who,  having 
been  converted  and  baptized  into  the  Protestant 
Church,  was  sealed  up  in  a  dungeon  in  the  monastery 
of  the  Maronite  patriarch,  where  he  was  allowed  to 
starve  to  death,  and  his  fate  was  made  known  as  a 
warning  to  others. 

To  Junieh,  one  of  the  chief  towns  of  this  people, 
Miss  Eddy  went  to  establish  a  hospital  and  introduce 
the  modern  science  of  medicine.  She  first  applied  to 
the  bishop  of  that  diocese  for  permission  to  do  so, 
which  was  refused,  and  she  was  not  only  forbidden  to 
carry  out  her  plans,  but  the  people  of  the  town  were 
forbidden  to  rent  her  a  building.  On  the  outskirts  of 
the  town,  however,  she  found  a  suitable  building  for 


5o  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  purpose  owned  by  a  man  who  had  the  nerve  to 
defy  the  bishop,  and  obtained  a  lease  for  two  years  by 
paying  the  entire  rental  in  advance.  Attached  to  the 
lease  is  a  clause  requiring  the  return  of  all  the  rent 
and  the  payment  of  a  heavy  forfeit  if  the  contract  is 
not  carried  out  by  the  owner  of  the  property.  This 
lease  was  obtained  largely  through  the  influence  of  the 
governor,  to  whom  Miss  Eddy  presented  her  firmin 
from  the  sultan,  and  by  his  advice  she  had  a  copy  of 
the  document  approved  by  the  local  judges  and  spread 
upon  the  records  of  the  court,  which  is  equivalent  to 
the  rendering  of  a  judgment  in  her  favor  in  advance, 
if  the  owner  of  the  property  should  attempt  to  evict 
her.  The  governor  encouraged  the  scheme;  he  wel¬ 
comed  a  free  hospital,  as  he  believes  it  is  very  much 
needed  among  the  people,  and  the  introduction  of 
modern  medical  treatment  in  place  of  the  supersti¬ 
tious  rites  practiced  by  the  Maronites. 

Miss  Eddy  takes  a  heroic  view  of  her  mission.  She 
deems  it  her  duty  and  considers  it  her  privilege  to  act 
as  a  wedge  in  opening  to  American  missionary  work  a 
hitherto  inaccessible  territory.  It  is  her  purpose,  she 
says,  to  make  American  missionaries  known  and 
respected  among  the  Maronites,  who  have  refused  to 
receive  them  for  seventy  years;  to  gain  the  confidence 
of  the  officials,  the  priests,  and  the  people,  and  open 
the  way  for  educational  and  evangelical  work.  It 
requires  courage,  determination  and  tact  to  accom¬ 
plish  this,  and  she  has  all  three  qualities  in  abundance 
beyond  most  women.  Perhaps  Miss  Eddy  is  the  only 
person  living  who  could  safely  make  the  attempt  with¬ 
out  inviting  martyrdom. 

Her  father  was  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  William  W.  Eddy, 
who  came  to  Beirut  as  a  missionary  in  1851  and 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  51 


remained  here  until  his  death,  one  of  the  most  useful 
and  influential  men  in  the  field.  Her  mother  is  still 
engaged  in  the  work  after  fifty-two  years  of  expe¬ 
rience.  Her  brother,  Rev.  W.  K.  Eddy,  has  charge 
of  an  important  field,  with  his  headquarters  at  Sidon, 
and  her  sister  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  F.  E.  Hoskins 
of  Beirut.  Miss  Eddy’s  life  has  been  spent  among  the 
Syrians.  She  knows  them  with  a  knowledge  that  can 
only  be  gained  by  such  association,  and  is  more  widely 
and  favorably  known  among  the  common  people  than 
any  other  woman  because  of  her  skill  as  a  physician 
and  surgeon  and  her  wonderful  success  in  healing 
thousands  of  diseased  that  have  come  to  her  from  all 
parts  of  Syria.  The  superstitious  natives  look  upon 
her  with  veneration,  as  a  miracle  worker.  The  upper 
classes  respect  and  admire  her  for  her  qualities  as  a 
woman,  as  well  as  for  her  professional  skill. 

There  are  other  and  especial  reasons  why  Miss  Eddy 
is  the  best  person  for  the  mission  she  has  undertaken. 
She  is  the  only  woman  in  Syria,  or  anywhere  else  for 
that  matter,  who  carries  a  firmin  from  the  sultan  of 
Turkey.  That  portentous  document,  which  was 
granted  to  a  Protestant  missionary  by  the  head  of  the 
Mohammedan  church  as  a  reward  for  her  usefulness 
and  a  tribute  to  her  skill,  is  of  course  a  great  protec¬ 
tion.  It  enables  her  to  call  upon  the  officials  and  the 
military  authorities  for  any  assistance  or  supplies  that 
she  may  need,  it  entitles  her  to  a  military  escort  when¬ 
ever  she  desires,  and  in  various  other  directions  gives 
her  an  importance  which  no  other  woman  and  no  other 
missionary  possesses.  Furthermore,  Miss  Eddy  is 
known  personally  or  by  reputation  to  nearly  every 
official  and  person  of  prominence  in  the  country.  She 
has  attended  successfully  many  difficult  cases  in  their 


52  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

families;  patients  are  brought  to  her  from  all  parts  of 
Syria,  and  she  is  frequently  called  upon  to  make  long 
journeys  to  attend  the  women  of  the  families  of  the 
pashas  and  other  men  of  influence. 

The  American  College  at  Beirut  was  established  in 
1866.  The  first  class  was  graduated  in  1870.  The 
medical  department  was  opened  in  1867.  The  corner 
stone  of  the  main  building  was  laid  in  1871  by  the  late 
William  E.  Dodge  of  New  York.  A  department  of 
commerce,  of  which  much  is  expected,  was  established 
in  1900.  The  first  year  of  the  institution  there  were 
sixteen  students.  In  1902  there  were  over  six  hun¬ 
dred.  There  are  thirty-five  acres  of  ground  in  the 
campus  and  twelve  buildings,  as  fine  as  you  will  see  at 
the  average  American  institution  and  of  similar  archi¬ 
tecture.  The  faculty  numbers  thirty-five  professors 
and  instructors,  of  whom  seventeen  are  Americans. 
The  growth  of  the  institution  has  been  gradual  and 
permanent,  the  best  of  testimony  to  its  usefulness.  In 
1870  there  were  77  students;  in  1876,  106;  in  1880,  152; 
in  1886,  170;  in  1890,  200;  in  1896,  297;  in  1900,  435; 
in  1901,  544;  in  1902,  600.  More  room  on  the  campus 
and  more  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  stu¬ 
dents  are  greatly  needed,  and  if  any  gentleman  in  the 
United  States  has  a  few  thousand  dollars  he  would  like 
to  invest  in  a  noble  and  useful  enterprise  that  will  pay 
him  bigger  dividends  than  the  Standard  Oil  Company, 
he  may  apply  to  the  president  of  the  board  of  trustees, 
Morris  K.  Jesup  of  New  York,  for  a  block  of  stock  in 
the  Syrian  Protestant  College.  Its  coat-of-arms  is  a 
venerable  cedar  of  Lebanon  and  its  motto  is:  “The 
righteous  shall  flourish  like  a  palm  tree;  he  shall  grow 
like  a  cedar  in  Lebanon.” 

The  students  come  from  Egypt,  Greece,  Turkey  in 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  53 


Europe,  Asia  Minor,  Persia,  Syria  and  the  Sudan, 
besides  Germans,  Frenchmen,  Englishmen,  Italians 
and  Americans  from  the  foreign  colony  in  Syria. 
Tuition  is  $25  a  year,  and  including  board  $125  a  year, 
just  enough  to  give  a  value  to  the  instruction  and  not 
too  much  to  shut  out  young  men  who  are  in  earnest 
for  learning.  The  college  is  undenominational  and 
the  instruction  is  entirely  nonsectarian.  Although  it 
was  founded  by  the  Presbyterians,  members  of  several 
other  denominations  are  found  in  the  faculty.  Relig¬ 
ious  exercises,  however,  are  compulsory.  Students 
are  required  to  attend  chapel  daily,  public  worship  and 
Sunday  school  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  study  of  the 
Bible  is  a  regular  part  of  the  curriculum.  Several 
hours  a  week  are  devoted  to  the  study  of  ethics — 
everyday  morals,  including  the  duty  of  man  to  his  fel¬ 
low  men,  truth,  honesty,  candor,  justice — for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  quickening  the  moral  sense  of  the  students  and 
to  train  them  thoroughly  in  the  ethical  principles  that 
are  the  foundation  of  Christian  society.  But  no  evan¬ 
gelical  work  is  attempted.  The  idea  is  to  educate  and 
not  to  convert;  to  prepare  the  minds  and  leave  the 
rest  to  Providence.  President  Bliss  says:  “It  is  pos¬ 
sible  for  a  pagan  to  enter  our  college,  and  he  may  go 
out  a  pagan,  but  it  will  not  be  possible  for  him  to 
remain  long  in  ignorance  of  the  laws  of  God  in  the 
physical,  mental  and  moral  world.” 

The  students  represent  all  of  the  many  races  and 
religions  in  Syria.  Some  object  at  first  to  religious 
instruction  and  to  being  required  to  attend  Christian 
worship,  but  no  exceptions  are  made,  and  ultimately 
they  accept  the  situation  gracefully,  and  often  show 
deep  interest  in  subjects  to  which  they  were  originally 
averse.  In  the  chapel  Sunday  morning  is  to  be  found 


54  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


a  congregation  of  six  hundred  fine-looking  young 
men — Jews,  Greeks,  Mohammedans,  Maronites,  Dru¬ 
ses,  Armenians,  Roman  Catholics  and  believers  in  all 
the  many  creeds  that  prevail  in  Palestine.  They  sing 
Christian  hymns  to  the  accompaniment  of  a  fine  organ, 
join  in  the  responsive  readings  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  hear  a  sermon  that  does  not  refer  to  doctrinal 
controversies,  but  treats  of  the  evidences  of  Christian¬ 
ity  and  the  moral  law.  Each  Sunday  afternoon  for  an 
hour  the  same  students — Jews,  Gentiles  and  Moslems — 
meet  for  Bible  study.  Controversial  points  are 
avoided.  Old  Testament  history  and  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  are  made  prominent,  and  frequently  the  greatest 
interest  is  shown  by  the  Mohammedan  and  the  Jewish 
students.  No  criticism  is  passed  upon  other  religions 
any  more  than  upon  other  nations.  Politics  and 
theology  are  both  barred.  It  is  not  intended  to  dena¬ 
tionalize  the  young  men  or  to  draw  them  away  from 
their  families.  The  purpose  is  to  prepare  them  for  the 
duties  and  the  labors  of  life.  The  country  wants 
teachers,  lawyers,  editors,  judges,  engineers,  physi¬ 
cians,  pharmacists,  clerks  and  interpreters,  and  the 
college  is  called  upon  to  supply  all  of  these  needs. 

As  French  is  the  common  language  in  official  and 
commercial  circles  in  Syria,  much  time  is  devoted  to 
its  study,  but  all  instruction  is  given  in  English,  and 
everything  about  the  institution  is  distinctly  Ameri¬ 
can — American  professors,  American  text-books, 
American  methods,  American  furniture,  American 
athletics  and  American  literature.  In  the  erection  of 
the  new  building  all  the  materials  were  imported  from 
the  United  States,  the  machinery  and  apparatus,  the 
instruments  and  appliances  in  the  laboratories,  in  the 
observatory,  in  the  hospital  and  even  in  the  kitchen, 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  55 


are  all  American,  and  one  great  idea  of  the  faculty  is 
to  impress  upon  the  young  men  the  superiority  of 
American  institutions  and  American  products,  and 
American  ideas  of  education,  truth  and  commercial 
integrity.  Therefore,  as  an  outpost  of  American 
civilization  the  institution  is  powerful  and  important, 
and  the  recently  established  school  of  commerce  is 
expected  to  deepen  the  impression  already  made,  as 
well  as  to  cultivate  trade  relations  between  Syria  and 
the  United  States. 

This  school  of  commerce  is  in  imitation  of  those 
recently  established  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Madi¬ 
son,  Wis.,  and  other  cities  of  the  United  States.  The 
growth  of  commerce  and  industry  in  the  East  is  open¬ 
ing  opportunities  for  profitable  and  useful  careers, 
outside  of  politics  and  professional  circles.  There  is  a 
rapidly  increasing  demand  for  trained  men  in  business 
enterprises.  *  In  view  of  these  facts,  President  Bliss 
and  his  associates  have  adopted  courses  of  study  which 
seem  best  adapted  to  educate  students  in  the  commer¬ 
cial  methods  of  the  United  States,  modified  to  meet 
the  peculiar  conditions  of  this  part  of  the  world.  It  is 
not  merely  a  commercial  college  to  teach  penmanship, 
bookkeeping  and  mathematical  computations,  but  to 
equip  men  for  responsible  positions  and  for  leadership, 
and  to  instill  into  their  minds  the  highest  standard  of 
business  integrity,  which  is  a  very  important  point  in 
Syria,  where  the  sense  of  deception  has  been  abnor¬ 
mally  developed. 

A  school  of  biblical  archeology  has  been  established 
for  the  benefit  of  clergymen  and  other  scholars  who 
wish  to  investigate  the  lands  of  the  Bible  in  an  easier 
and  more  economical  manner  than  can  be  done  by 
individual  effort.  The  library  of  the  college  is  espe- 


56  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


cially  rich  in  subjects  pertaining  to  this  department, 
and  the  long  experience  and  wide  knowledge  of  sev¬ 
eral  members  of  the  faculty  make  them  especially 
competent  in  directing  such  inquiries.  The  rate  of 
tuition  is  $250  a  year,  including  board  and  room. 

The  medical  department  is  one  of  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  of  the  institutions  and  has  already  sent  out  hun¬ 
dreds  of  competent  physicians  to  introduce  modern 
medical  science  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering,  who  until 
recent  years  have  been  treated  only  by  the  sorcerers 
and  old  women  of  their  villages.  In  looking  over  the 
list  of  the  alumni,  I  find  that  most  of  the  graduates  of 
the  medical  school  are  occupying  official  positions  in 
connection  with  the  sanitary  department  of  the  gov¬ 
ernment  and  in  the  armies  of  Turkey  and  Egypt. 

Dr.  Daniel  Bliss,  who  founded  the  institution,  and 
has  been  its  president  from  the  start,  retired  in  1902 
because  of  his  age  and  infirmities,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  son.  No  man  living  can  look  back  upon  his 
career  with  greater  satisfaction  than  Dr.  Bliss.  The 
fruits  of  his  labors  are  always  before  him.  The  alumni 
of  the  Beirut  College  are  already  taking  steps  to  erect 
a  monument  in  his  honor.  Dr.  Bliss  has  exercised  a 
powerful  influence  upon  Turkish  civilization,  not  only 
directly,  but  indirectly,  through  the  students  who  have 
been  under  his  charge,  by  giving  them  an  ideal  of  true 
manhood  as  well  as  instruction  and  advice.  Such  men 
make  America  honored  and  respected  wherever  they  go. 

By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  graduates  of  the  college 
go  into  official  positions  because  their  education  fits 
them  for  such  work.  They  become  judges,  professors 
in  the  native  schools,  editors,  physicians,  engineers, 
interpreters,  heads  of  business  bureaus  and  depart¬ 
ments.  Their  qualifications  to  lead  and  to  command 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  57 

are  quickly  recognized.  They  learn  something  more 
than  is  found  in  books.  The  discipline  of  the  institu¬ 
tion  is  of  the  greatest  importance  because  the  Ameri¬ 
can  method  is  practically  unknown  to  the  orientals  and 
is  foreign  to  their  habits.  The  college  is  a  living 
school  of  democracy.  The  faculty  told  me  that  the 
athletic  ground  is  the  most  important  branch  in  this 
respect.  Sports  are  great  levelers.  They  are  new  in 
Syria.  The  natives  of  this  part  of  the  country  do  not 
take  kindly  to  them  at  first.  They  do  not  understand 
why  anyone  should  undergo  exertion  unless  compelled 
to  do  so.  A  young  Arab  student,  soon  after  his  arrival 
at  the  college,  watched  a  party  of  professors  playing 
tennis  with  great  wonder  and  expressed  surprise  that 
they  did  not  require  their  servants  to  play  for  them. 
But  the  young  men  very  soon  get  over  such  notions. 
Athletic  excitement  is  contagious,  and  when  an  orien¬ 
tal  once  takes  an  interest  in  sports  he  soon  becomes 
very  enthusiastic.  The  football  and  baseball  games, 
the  field  sports  and  other  athletic  events  at  the  college 
awaken  as  much  popular  interest  in  Beirut  and  the 
surrounding  country  as  in  our  own  college  towns,  and 
are  attended  by  large  crowds  of  friends  and  the  fam¬ 
ilies  of  the  participants.  The  small  boys  of  Beirut 
worship  the  football  and  baseball  heroes  with  genuine 
human  nature,  and  they  have  the  college  yell: 

Rah!  Rah!  Rah!  Rip!  Rah!  Ree! 

Boom!  Ah!  Boom!  Ah!  S.  P.  C. 

The  loyalty  of  the  graduates  to  their  alma  mater  is 
one  of  the  most  gratifying  signs  of  its  usefulness. 
Their  reminiscences  of  college  life  are  as  precious  to 
them  as  ours  are  to  us,  and  thus  the  influence  of  the 
institution  never  dies. 


58  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

■  \v  # 

\  <  Beirut  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Bible.  None  of  the 
apostles  ever  visited  the  city,  so  far  as  we  know,  but 
Christianity  was  early  established  there  and  the  city 
became  the  seat  of  a  bishopric.  It  continued  to  grow 
and  prosper,  and  under  the  reign  of  Justinian  became 
one  of  the  most  famous  seats  of  learning  in  the  Roman 
Empire.  Its  law  school,  which  flourished  for  a  period 
of  three  centuries,  was  attended  by  students  from 
Greece,  Alexandria  and  Constantinople,  and  the  liter¬ 
ary  fame  of  Beirut  spread  throughout  the  world,  until 
551,  when  the  city  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by 
an  earthquake.  Its  colleges,  churches,  temples,  thea¬ 
ters  and  palaces  were  overthrown  and  a  multitude  of 
the  inhabitants  were  buried  beneath  the  ruins.  It  is 
impossible  to  dig  a  foundation  for  a  house  or  plow  a 
garden  without  finding  memorials  of  that  dreadful 
calamity  from  which  the  city  never  recovered.  Its 
age  may  be  reckoned  from  an  imperishable  visitor’s 
book,  which  dates  back  at  least  fourteen  centuries 
before  the  Christian  era.  Upon  a  living  rock, 
beside  the  remains  of  an  old  Phoenician  road 
chiseled  from  the  face  of  the  precipice  before 
written  history  began,  for  they  had  no  dynamite  in 
those  days,  are  curious  tablets  commemorating  the 
visits  of  emperors  and  other  distinguished  men  at 
various  periods  of  the  world’s  history,  from  the  Egypt¬ 
ian  Pharaoh  in  whose  brickyard  occurred  the  first  great 
strike,  down  to  the  German  kaiser,  who  honored  this 
country  with  his  presence  in  1898.  The  first  tablet 
relates  to  various  expeditions  of  Sesostris,  Rameses 
II.,  who  refused  to  let  Israel  go  until  Moses  demon¬ 
strated  the  expediency  of  that  proposition.  Another 
commemorates  the  presence  of  Sennacharib,  who 
invaded  Syria  in  the  year  701  before  Christ.  There 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  59 


are  several  other  mementoes  of  Assyrian  and  Egyptian 
kings,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  tablets  have  been 
so  well  preserved  all  these  many  centuries.  Marcus 
Antonius,  who  reigned  at  Rome  from  161  to  180, 
repaired  the  road  and  built  new  bridges,  as  we  happen 
to  know  by  reason  of  a  fine  Latin  inscription,  in  which 
he  designates  himself  as  “The  Conqueror  of  Ger¬ 
many.”  There  is  no  such  visitor’s  book  in  all  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  no  such  register  of  arrivals  at  any 
place  that  I  have  ever  heard  of. 

According  to  tradition  Jonah’s  little  affair  with  the 
whale  took  place  a  short  distance  down  the  coast,  and 
the  exact  spot  can  be  pointed  out  to  those  who  have 
the  curiosity  to  see  it.  Some  skeptics  have  declared 
that  whales  never  inhabited  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
but  that  is  not  true.  They  are  frequently  seen  nowa¬ 
days,  at  least  two  were  reported  during  the  winter  of 
1901-2;  and,  furthermore,  any  one  who  will  examine 
the  maps  and  charts  made  by  Ptolemy,  the  great 
Egyptian  geographer,  will  notice  pictures  of  monstrous 
fish  sailing  about  in  different  parts  of  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean,  spouting  up  large  columns  of  water,  just  as 
whales  do  at  the  present  day.  Jonah  is  supposed  to 
have  been  buried  at  a  place  called  Nebyyunas,  where  a 
mosque  called  Mukam-en-Neby,  with  a  low  white 
dome,  covers  his  alleged  grave,  and  is  visited  annually 
by  large  numbers  of  invalids,  who  make  vows  while 
sick  and  come  there  with  offerings  to  fulfill  them  after 
their  recovery.  Jonah  is  believed  to  have  been  a 
native  of  this  part  of  the  country. 

The  Bay  of  St.  George,  upon  which  Beirut  is  situ¬ 
ated,  gets  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  tutelary 
saint  of  Great  Britain  slew  the  dragon  upon  its  shores. 
Fragments  of  old  buttresses  on  the  roadside  show  where 


6o  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


a  chapel  was  erected  to  his  memory  by  the  Crusaders; 
in  a  garden  that  surrounds  it,  near  a  dilapidated  old 
mosque,  is  a  pit  or  well  in  which  the  carcass  of  the 
dead  monster  was  cast,  and  just  a  little  farther  away  is 
a  spring  in  which  St.  George  washed  the  blood  from 
his  hands  after  the  deed.  St.  George  was  a  native  of 
the  town  of  Lydda,  one  of  the  stations  upon  the  rail¬ 
road  between  Jaffa  and  Jerusalem,  and  suffered  martyr¬ 
dom  there  during  the  persecutions  by  the  Emperor 
Domitian.  The  Crusaders,  when  they  arrived  at 
Lydda,  found  a  church  standing  over  his  grave,  which, 
in  their  opinion,  was  the  best  specimen  of  ecclesias¬ 
tical  architecture  in  the  country,  and  they  took  it  for 
their  own.  Richard  Coeur-de-Leon  decorated  his 
ensign  with  a  picture  of  the  encounter  with  the  dragon, 
and  through  his  influence  St.  George  became  the 
patron  saint  of  England.  According  to  the  records  of 

i 

the  church,  St.  George  was  one  of  the  early  converts  to 
Christianity  and  lived  not  more  than  a  century  after 
the  death  of  the  Saviour;  but  why  he  was  prancing 
around  Beirut  on  a  charger,  rescuing  beautiful  maid¬ 
ens  from  the  jaws  of  fire-breathing  monsters,  is  difficult 
to  explain.  The  legend  says  that  a  terrible  dragon 
inhabited  these  waters  from  time  immemorial  and,  to 
prevent  it  from  devouring  the  entire  town,  the  people 
of  Beirut  were  required  to  offer  to  it  as  a  sacrifice  one 
maiden  on  the  first  day  of  every  year.  The  custom 
became  so  fixed  that  the  families  of  the  community 
took  turns  in  furnishing  the  victims.  When  it  came 
the  turn  of  the  governor  of  the  province  he  refused  to 
sacrifice  his  one  beloved  child,  the  most  beautiful  girl 
in  the  country,  but  the  people  insisted.  They  had 
seen  their  own  daughters  eaten  by  the  monster  year 
after  year  and  did  not  propose  to  permit  an  exemption 


PROTESTANT  MISSIONARY  WORK  61 


of  their  magistrate.  So  the  girl  was  taken  and 
chained  to  a  rock  on  the  edge  of  the  bay,  and  the 
monster  was  crawling  out  of  the  water  to  seize  her  just 
as  St.  George  came  riding  along,  mounted  upon  a  beauti¬ 
ful  steed,  with  a  big  white  plume  in  his  hat  and  a 
glistening  spear  in  his  hand.  Hearing  the  shrieks  of 
terror  from  the  girl  and  the  growls  of  satisfaction  from 
the  dragon,  he  recognized  the  situation,  and,  plunging 
his  trusty  spear  into  the  open  jaws  of  the  beast,  he 
pressed  the  point  into  its  brain.  The  body  of  the 
dragon  was  thrown  into  the  pit,  the  beautiful  maiden 
was  restored  to  her  parents,  and  I  suppose  that  St. 
George  married  her.  At  least,  he  ought  to  have  done  so. 

Another  interesting  story  concerns  the  origin  of 
the  name  of  Dog  River,  an  eager,  dashing  stream, 
which  pours  down  from  the  mountains  of  Lebanon  and 
supplies  the  City  of  Beirut  with  water  through  the 
management  of  a  French  company.  In  ancient  days 
the  traditions  say  that  an  enormous  beast  of  stone  in 
the  shape  of  a  dog  stood  at  the  mouth  of  this  river, 
and  some  genius  arranged  an  aqueduct  so  that  the 
waters  of  the  river  could  be  turned  through  the  body 
of  the  image  and  made  to  flow  out  of  its  mouth,  caus¬ 
ing  a  roar  which  could  be  heard  for  many  miles,  and 
so  soul-chilling  that  it  terrified  all  the  enemies  of 
Beirut  who  dared  to  approach  the  city  and  compelled 
them  to  turn  away. 

Back  in  the  mountains  is  the  birthplace  and  the 
shrine  of  Adonis,  and  Venus  is  said  to  have  been  a  fre¬ 
quent  visitor  here  in  old  times.  No  news  of  either  of 
them  has  been  published  lately,  although  there  are 
twelve  daily  papers  in  Beirut,  as  newsy  as  they  are 
numerous,  and  the  most  enterprising  in  all  the  Otto¬ 
man  Empire. 


Ill 

The  Journey  to  Damascus 


f 


6? 


THE  SHIP  OF  THE  DESERT 


r 


III 

THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 

There  is  an  excellent  railway  between  Beirut  and 
Damascus,  a  narrow  gauge,  operated  on  the  rack  and 
pinion  system,  with  cog-wheels  at  the  heavy  grades. 
It  winds  in  and  out  of  the  gorges,  clinging  to  the 
mountain  sides,  and  crosses  a  pass  in  the  Lebanon 
Mountains  at  an  elevation  of  4,480  feet.  Then  it 
drops  down  into  a  beautiful  little  valley  and  again 
ascends,  crossing  the  Anti-Lebanon  Range  at  an  alti¬ 
tude  of  4,100  feet,  which  brings  it  into  the  Valley  of 
Damascus,  2,540  feet  above  the  sea.  The  distance  is 
ninety-one  miles,  and  for  a  greater  part  the  track  fol¬ 
lows  the  old  caravan  road  which  has  been  used  since 
the  time  of  Abraham.  It  belongs  to  a  French  com¬ 
pany  and  is  being  slowly  extended  beyond  Damascus 
and  into  parallel  valleys  in  order  to  reach  the  most 
fertile  sections  of  Syria.  The  track  is  solid  and  well 
ballasted,  the  rails  are  fifty-five  pounds  to  the  foot, 
the  ties  of  iron,  the  bridges  of  stone  and  the  embank¬ 
ments  are  rivetted  with  walls  of  masonry  in  the  most 
careful,  costly  and  permanent  manner.  The  station 
houses,  water  tanks,  side  tracks,  repair  shops,  engine 
houses  and  other  property  are  on  the  same  scale.  The 
road  was  built  and  is  operated  by  Swiss  engineers, 
being  similar  in  many  respects  to  the  Swiss  railways. 
The  rolling  stock  is  comfortable,  clean  and  kept  in 
good  repair,  but  is  insufficient  for  the  traffic.  There 
are  many  complaints  about  delay  in  transportation, 
which  are  due  to  the  lack  of  cars,  and  upon  our  train 
thirty-one  people  holding  first-class  tickets  could  find 

65 


66  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


only  three  first-class  compartments,  with  six  places 
each,  which,  according  to  the  Turkish  method  of 
reasoning,  is  the  fault  of  the  passengers  for  coming 
in  such  numbers,  and  not  of  the  company. 

The  journey  from  Beirut  to  Damascus  is  almost  a 
duplicate  of  a  trip  over  the  Mexican  National  Railway, 
and  the  resemblance  to  certain  portions  of  southern 
Colorado  and  northern  New  Mexico  is  very  striking. 
A  resident  of  Santa  Fe  or  Agua  Calientes  would  feel 
very  much  at  home  in  this  part  of  Syria,  although  he 
would  wonder  at  the  trouble  and  expense  the  people 
have  taken  to  retain  and  cultivate  the  few  little  fertile 
spots  that  the  Creator  has  allotted  them.  The 
mountain  sides  have  been  walled  up  in  terraces  like 
gigantic  stairways,  to  prevent  the  soil  from  being 
washed  off  by  the  rain;  the  terraces  are  planted  with 
grapes,  figs,  olives  and  mulberry  trees,  which  have 
been  cultivated  by  the  same  families  for  hundreds  and 
perhaps  for  thousands  of  years.  Olive  trees  live  to  a 
great  age;  fig  trees  never  die,  and  some  of  the  grape¬ 
vines  to  be  seen  along  the  roadside  are  as  thick  as  a 
man’s  body.  The  Syrians  cultivate  grapes  in  a  curious 
way.  In  the  fall  of  the  year,  after  the  fruit  has  been 
gathered,  the  vines  are  pruned  down  to  a  trunk  about 
the  height  of  a  man,  which  is  laid  flat  upon  the  ground 
until  springtime,  when  it  is  propped  up,  manured  and 
irrigated.  New  branches  will  shoot  out,  cover  the  soil 
all  around  it  and  bear  fruit.  No  sap  is  wasted  in  nour¬ 
ishing  useless  leaves  and  vines.  Hence  the  vineyards 
have  a  peculiar  look  in  the  winter  time,  being  rows 
of  trunks  of  different  sizes,  from  six  inches  to  a  foot  in 
diameter  and  from  five  to  eight  feet  long,  which  lie 
upon  the  ground  in  lines  like  a  sleeping  army. 

All  along  the  railway  line,  wherever  there  is  a  vacant 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS  67 


place,  the  farmers  are  setting  out  mulberry  trees, 
which  are  planted  very  closely  together  and  cultivated 
like  house  plants,  so  that  they  will  grow  rapidly  and 
bear  luxuriant  leaves.  This  is  in  obedience  to  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  silk  industry,  which  is  very  great 
at  Damascus.  The  ground  is  very  carefully  prepared. 
It  is  plowed  deep,  harrowed  fine,  and  then  a  series  of 
trenches  are  dug  for  the  trees  about  eighteen  or  twenty 
inches  in  depth,  which  are  first  filled  with  water  before 
the  young  shoots  are  placed  in  them.  The  trenches 
are  dug  by  a  peculiar  process.  Did  you  ever  see  three 
men  handle  one  shovel,  or  is  it  an  invention  of  the 
Syrians?  Just  above  the  blade  of  the  shovel  two  ropes 
are  fastened  and  the  ends  are  held  by  men  on  each 
side  of  the  trench.  The  shovel  is  manipulated  by  a 
third,  who  plunges  it  into  the  earth  as  deep  as  his 
strength  will  permit,  and  then  the  men  with  the  ropes 
hoist  the  load  out  for  him.  The  three  work  together 
with  considerable  skill  and  ease,  and  can  throw  out  a 
good  deal  of  dirt  in  a  day.  It  is  next  to  a  patent 
excavator.  The  same  process  is  often  used  in  lifting 
water  from  a  reservoir  into  an  irrigating  ditch  when 
there  is  no  pump.  Two  men  with  ropes  attached  to  a 
bushel  basket  will  fill  the  basket  in  the  reservoir  and 
empty  it  into  the  ditch  without  touching  it  wi.th  their 
hands,  in  the  most  skillful  and  rapid  manner. 

The  increase  in  the  manufacture  of  silk  at  Damascus 
can  be  traced  to  the  world’s  fair  at  Chicago.  In  the 
Turkish  village,  the  Streets  of  Cairo,  the  Manufactures 
Building  and  other  parts  of  the  grounds  were  large 
stalls  for  the  sale  of  scarfs,  table  spreads,  turbans, 
girdles  and  other  forms  of  Damascus  silk,  which 
became  very  popular  and  have  since  been  in  vogue 
both  to  wear  and  for  decorative  purposes.  You  can 


68  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


find  them  in  every  village  of  the  United  States,  but 
until  1893  little  was  exported  from  Damascus,  although 
the  industry  had  been  important  for  centuries.  It  is 
said  that  the  value  of  the  silkworm  was  discovered  by 
a  woman  in  China,  whence  the  industry  has  spread 
over  the  earth;  but  it  certainly  was  known  in  Syria  at 
a  very  early  period.  You  can  read  about  silks  in  the 
first  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Great  fame  has 
been  attached  to  the  Damascus  looms  so  far  back  as 
the  art  of  weaving  is  known,  but  until  the  demand  was 
revived  by  the  Chicago  exposition  the  industry 
declined  in  the  face  of  ever-growing  European  com¬ 
petition.  There  are  now  about  10,000  looms  in  the 
city,  all  of  the  most  primitive  character,  worked  by 
hand  and  in  the  households  of  the  people.  Fathers, 
mothers,  daughters  and  sons  take  turns  in  weaving, 
and  the  silk  business,  like  everything  else,  goes  by 
families,  who  sell  their  product  at  the  bazaars,  gener¬ 
ally  in  advance  of  its  manufacture.  The  merchant 
who  furnishes  them  with  the  raw  material  has  a  claim 
upon  the  fabric.  Damascus  was  equally,  or  perhaps 
more,  famous  at  one  time  for  its  steel.  “Damascus 
blades”  were  the  finest  in  the  world,  and  the  most 
beautiful  and  artistic  armor  found  in  the  old  museums 
of  Europe  was  manufactured  in  that  city  and  carried 
away  by  the  Crusaders.  It  is  lighter  but  stronger  than 
any  ever  made  since  or  elsewhere.  It  is  often  inlaid 
with  silver  and  gold  and  the  designs  are  exquisite. 
But  since  the  fourteenth  century  very  little  cutlery  or 
armor  has  been  manufactured  in  Damascus,  contrary 
to  the  popular  impression.  In  1399  the  Tartars 
invaded  and  captured  the  city  and  compelled  the  pay¬ 
ment  of  a  ransom  of  1,000,000  pieces  of  gold.  All  the 
famous  armorers  were  carried  away  as  prisoners  and 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS  69 

resumed  their  art  at  Samarkand  and  Khorasan,  where 
it  flourishes  to  this  day,  while  at  Damascus  it  has 
fallen  entirely  into  oblivio^. 

The  cultivation  of  poplars  for  lumber  is  an  extensive 
industry  in  Syria.  A  crop  is  planted  regularly  every 
year.  By  irrigation  the  trees  grow  rapidly,  shooting 
up  like  stalks  of  sugar  cane,  and  are  kept  trimmed  so 
that  all  the  strength  of  the  sap  shall  go  into  the  trunk 
and  none  shall  be  wasted  in  branches.  You  see  mile 
after  mile  of  groves  of  thin-trunked  poplars  planted  as 
closely  as  possible.  When  they  are  large  enough  they 
are  cut  close  to  the  ground,  shipped  to  market  and 
the  roots  are  grubbed  out  for  fuel.  There  is  a  great 
demand  for  roof  poles  or  rafters.  The  houses  in  this 
part  of  the  world,  like  those  in  Mexico,  are  built- of 
adobe — sun-dried  clay.  The  walls  are  erected,  poplar 
poles  are  laid  across  them,  covered  with  brush  and  then 
with  mud,  which  contains  so  much  clay  that  with  the 
use  of  a  little  straw  it  becomes  as  hard  as  a  brick. 
The  houses  may  be  whitewashed  or  not,  according  to 
the  wealth  and  taste  of  the  owners.  They  cost  very 
little  either  in  money  or  labor,  and  look  as  if  a  heavy 
rain  would  wash  them  away,  but  some  of  them  have 
endured  for  centuries. 

The  housetops  are  flat  and  inclosed  with  low  coping 
from  the  walls,  which  is  important  as  a  matter  of 
domestic  economy,  as  well  as  personal  comfort.  The 
streets  of  the  towns  are  very  narrow;  gardens  are  rare 
and  hence  a  flat  roof  is  a  great  convenience.  A  great 
deal  takes  place  up  there.  The  family  uses  it  for  a 
bed-room  during  the  hot  summer  nights  and  for  a  din¬ 
ing-room  during  the  day,  also  as  a  place  for  their  devo¬ 
tions,  like  the  Aztec  Indians  down  in  Mexico,  who 
climb  to  the  housetop  every  morning  to  worship  the 


TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

sun,  and  to  look  for  the  coming  of  Montezuma.  You 
will  remember  that  Peter  went  up  on  the  housetop 
to  pray,  and  one  is  continually  reminded  of  that  cus¬ 
tom  when  he  comes  into  this  country,  for  when  the 
muezzin  appears  in  the  balcony  of  the  minaret  to  call 
the  hour  of  prayer,  thousands  of  the  faithful  climb  to 
their  housetops,  turn  their  faces  toward  Mecca  and  go 
through  the  gymnastic  performance  which  accom¬ 
panies  Mohammedan  worship.  Farmers  spread  their 
grain  and  vegetables  and  flax  upon  the  housetops  to 
dry,  just  as  the  woman  Rahab,  you  will  remember,  at 
Jericho,  hid  the  spies  which  Joshua  sent  out  from  the 
Jordan  under  the  stalks  of  flax  after  she  had  brought 
them  to  the  roof  of  her  house.  In  ordinary  houses  of 
Palestine  the  inmates  have  no  other  place  to  dry 
their  clothes  or  enjoy  the  air  or  do  numberless  other 
little  things  essential  to  their  health  and  comfort. 
During  the  summer  evenings,  when  the  day’s  work  is 
done,  half  the  population  are  on  the  housetops. 

There  are  no  fences  along  the  railway  to  Damascus, 
but  a  good  many  hedges  of  cactus,  that  add  to  the 
resemblance  to  Mexico,  for  it  is  the  same  variety  that 
you  see  down  there — the  nopal  that  appears  on  the 
coat-of-arms  of  the  Mexican  Republic.  The  gods  told 
Montezuma  that  he  must  continue  his  march  to  the 
southward  until  he  discovered  an  eagle  sitting  upon  a 
cactus,  and  there  he  must  build  a  city.  The  Mexican 
coat-of-arms  represents  the  picture  that  Montezuma 
saw.  The  nopal  grows  to  vast  size  in  Syria.  The 
peasants  dry  the  leaves  and  use  them  for  fuel.  The 
fuel  question  is  a  very  serious  one.  There  is  no  coal 
and  no  timber.  The  branches  of  the  grape  vines,  the 
mulberry  and  the  fig  trees  are  carefully  preserved,  but 
go  only  a  little  way  to  supply  the  demand,  and  coal  is 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


7 1 


$18  to  $20  a  ton.  The  railway  company  uses  artificial 
bricks  made  of  coal  dust,  called  briquettes.  Most  of 
the  population  use  manure  for  fuel  instead  of  for  fer¬ 
tilizer.  You  notice  piles  of  it  in  various  parts  of  the 
town,  which  are  carefully  protected  and  are  quite  as 
valuable  as  an  equal  bulk  of  coal  or  firewood  with  us. 
It  is  spread  out  until  thoroughly  dried,  and  then 
heaped  up  under  shelter  where  the  wind  cannot  reach 
it,  and  peddled  from  door  to  door  in  great  paniers  on 
the  backs  of  donkeys.  The  biggest  manure  piles  I 
ever  saw  are  outside  the  gates  of  Damascus,  near  where 
St.  Paul  was  let  down  in  a  basket.  I  have  seen  men 
shoveling  the  same  kind  of  fuel  into  the  furnaces  that 
heat  the  sweat-rooms  and  provide  hot  water  for  the 
Turkish  baths. 

A  few  miles  west  is  a  great  amphitheater  called  Suk- 
wadi.  A  steep  and  rugged  mountain  range  called 
Jebkasyun,  rising  about  1,500  feet  above  the  city, 
forms  the  northern  boundary  of  the  plain  and  upon  its 
summit  is  a  conspicuous  turbet,  or  tomb  of  a  saint, 
which  commands  an  extensive  and  beautiful  view. 
Moslem  traditions  assert  that  Adam  lived  upon  this 
mountain  and  that  the  slope  below  was  the  scene  of 
the  world’s  first  tragedy,  the  fratricide  of  Cain,  who 
fled  and  left  the  body  of  his  brother  in  a  cavern  which 
is  still  pointed  out;  that  the  redness  of  the  rocks,  which 
some  people  attribute  to  the  presence  of  iron,  is  due 
to  the  stains  of  the  blood  of  Abel.  Here,  also,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  same  authority,  Abraham,  the  father  of  the 
faithful,  lived  until  he  was  fifty  years  old — a  most 
unlikely  place — and  here  forsook  his  idols  for  the  wor¬ 
ship  of  Jehovah,  the  only  true  God. 

The  little  village  of  Riblek  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  chief  city  of  the  Hittites  in  patriarchal  times. 


72  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


They  were  the  children  of  Heth,  the  second  son  of 
Canaan  and  the  great-grandson  of  Noah,  and  were 
most  enterprising  and  influential  people,  both  before 
and  after  the  conquest  of  the  promised  land.  Two  of 
Esau’s  wives  were  daughters  of  the  Hittites,  and  Isaac 
and  Rebekah  were  in  a  fit  of  anxiety  lest  Jacob  should 
follow  the  example  of  his  erratic  brother  and  pick  his 
bride  from  among  that  tribe.  It  was  from  Ephron,  the 
Hittite,  that  Abraham  purchased  the  cave  of  Machpe- 
lah  at  Hebron  when  his  wife  Sarah  died.  Every  foot 
of  the  ground  in  both  directions  is  historic  and  asso¬ 
ciated  with  biblical  history.  It  is  well  to  keep  your 
Bible  beside  your  Baedeker  when  traveling  through 
Syria. 

Not  far  from  the  railway  is  a  remarkable  natural 
phenomenon  similar  to  the  natural  bridge  of  Virginia, 
which  has  received  a  great  deal  of  attention  from 
geologists,  but  I  cannot  find  any  mention  of  it  in  the 
Bible.  It  is  called  Jist-el-hajr  (Stone  bridge),  and  is 
an  almost  perfect  arch,  the  span  being  160  feet  and  the 
curve  as  regular  and  clean  as  it  might  be  if  it  had  been 
built  by  an  engineer.  The  height  is  150  feet;  the 
thickness  of  the  rock  above  the  arch  30  feet,  and  the 
breadth  on  top,  where  the  road  passes  over  it,  from  90 
to  1 12  feet. 

The  irrigation  systems  along  the  valley  through 
which  the  railway  passes  are  very  ancient.  They 
date  back  to  the  beginning  of  things,  before  the  time 
when  people  began  to  keep  records,  before  paper  and 
books  were  invented,  when  few  men  knew  their  own 
language  because  there  were  no  books  to  learn  from 
and  the  art  of  writing  was  undeveloped.  We  do  not 
know  when  irrigation  was  invented.  Some  historians 
attribute  it  to  the  Chinese,  others  to  the  Hindus,  but 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


73 


if  the  human  family  originated  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Euphrates  the  first  irrigating  canals  must  have  been 
dug  there.  At  least  the  same  streams  are  now  used 
and  the  same  methods  for  directing  and  regulating  the 
flow  of  the  water  that  were  in  vogue  at  the  time  of 
Abraham.  There  has  been  little  change  in  the  imple¬ 
ments  and  habits  of  the  farmers.  They  plow  with  the 
same  sort  of  a  crooked  stick  to-day  as  they  did  in  the 
time  of  Noah,  thrash  their  grain  by  driving  hoofed 
cattled  upon  it,  and  winnow  it  by  throwing  it  in  the 
air  to  let  the  breeze  blow  out  the  chaff.  It  is  extraor¬ 
dinary  how  the  soil  continues  to  bear.  Its  fertility  is 
inexhaustible.  These  valleys  have  been  planted  with 
wheat  and  other  grains  for  more  than  4,000  years  that 
we  know  of,  and  yet  they  continue  to  yield  rich  har¬ 
vests  as  long  as  water  can  reach  them. 

The  farmers  do  not  live  upon  their  land,  but  in  con¬ 
tiguous  villages.  This  custom  dates  back  to  the  time 
when  it  was  unsafe  for  them  to  do  so,  and  when  neigh¬ 
bors  gathered  together  in  little  communities  for  better 
protection.  Occasionally  there  is  a  case  of  robbery  or 
kidnapping  these  days,  and  during  the  harvest  season 
particularly  the  vineyards  and  the  olive  groves  have 
to  be  watched.  In  some  districts  the  government  fur¬ 
nishes  the  watchmen;  in  others  the  land  owners  organ¬ 
ize  for  the  purpose  and  volunteer  to  assist  each  other. 
All  these  arrangements  are  reduced  to  a  system,  and 
follow  the  customs  of  centuries.  The  high  walls  about 
every  house  and  every  farm-yard  indicate  very  plainly 
that  live  stock  and  other  portable  property  are  not 
always  safe.  But  the  farmers  have  more  to  fear  from 
the  government  officials  than  from  any  other  source 
They  are  oppressed  beyond  all  conception.  The  orig¬ 
inal  tax  upon  farms  is  one-tenth  of  all  they  produce, 


74  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


but  the  tax-gatherer  regulates  the  amount  to  suit  him¬ 
self,  and  sometimes  seizes  half  of  the  harvest. 

Caravans  of  donkeys  and  camels  still  compete  with 
the  railroad  and  are  continually  moving  along  the  old 
highway  between  Beirut  and  Damascus  loaded  with 
all  kinds  of  freight,  grain,  cotton,  silk,  machinery, 
fuel,  poplar  trees,  dry  goods,  merchandise  of  every 
sort,  but  petroleum  seemes  to  be  the  popular  cargo. 
We  counted  hundreds  of  camels  and  donkeys  loaded 
with  tin  cans  of  Russian  petroleum  made  at  Batoum, 
and  every  case,  for  some  reason  or  another,  was 
marked  with  English  words.  It  is  bringing  the  old 
and  the  new  together  when  you  load  a  camel  with 
kerosene  oil. 

The  right  of  way  of  the  railroad  is  fenced  off  with 
barbed  wire,  and  all  persons  are  forbidden  to  intrude 
thereon.  A  guard  is  kept  at  every  crossing,  although 
there  are  only  two  trains  daily  each  way,  one  for 
freight  and  the  other  for  passengers.  Donkeys,  cat¬ 
tle,  goats,  sheep  and  sometimes  camels  get  over  into 
the  track  from  the  roadway,  and  while  we  were  going 
up  to  Damascus  a  drove  of  burros  violated  the 
regulation.  The  engine,  as  it  came  around  the  curve, 
struck  one  of  them  and  threw  it,  load  and  all,  a  hundred 
feet  or  more.  The  animal  did  not  seem  to  be  injured 
in  body,  but  its  pride  was  deeply  wounded,  and  it 
lifted  up  its  voice  and  wailed.  A  donkey  can  put  a 
great  deal  of  pathos  into  its  yeehaw!  yeehaw!  The 
train  was  stopped.  The  conductor  got  off,  and  with 
the  assistance  of  the  guards  arrested  the  man  in  charge 
of  the  donkeys  and  brought  him  to  Damascus,  leaving 
the  caravan  to  take  care  of  itself;  but  I  suppose  the  next 
caravan  driver  who  came  along,  and  the  road  was  full 
of  them,  took  charge  of  the  animals  for  his  friend. 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


75 


There  are  many  natural  curiosities  along  the  way, 
but  it  is  inconvenient  for  people  to  stop  and  see  them, 
the  country  being  without  hotels  and  conveniences  of 
travel.  So  we  can  only  read  about  them  in  the  guide 
books  between  stations  and  imagine  what  they  look 
like.  In  that  charming  description  of  life  in  Syria 
called  “The  Land  and  the  Book,”  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Thompson,  who  was  a  missionary  there  for  fifty-five 
years  and  traveled  about  so  much  that  he  knew  every 
inch  of  the  ground,  there  is  a  singular  story  concern¬ 
ing  a  so-called  Sabbatical  River  somewhere  on  the 
journey  between  Beirut  and  Damascus — a  river  that 
runs  only  one  day  in  the  week,  and  that  on  Sunday, 
and  is  entirely  dry  for  the  other  six  days.  Josephus 
described  it  with  great  detail  in  his  account  of  the 
journey  of  the  Emperor  Titus  through  Palestine. 
Pliny,  who  was  the  most  famous  naturalist  of  his  time, 
gives  it  considerable  attention.  Dr.  Thompson  says 
that  he  discovered  it  in  1840,  and  furnishes  an  ingen¬ 
ious  explanation  of  the  phenomenon.  Josephus 
declares  that  the  river  is  dry  from  Monday  to  Saturday 
and  runs  only  on  Sunday.  Pliny  reverses  the  propo¬ 
sition  and  makes  it  run  six  days  in  the  week  and  rest 
every  seventh  day,  according  to  the  injunction  of  the 
fourth  commandment.  Dr.  Thompson  declares  that 
it  rests  two  days  out  of  every  three  and  runs  on  a  part 
of  the  third  day  only.  The  monks  in  the  neighboring 
monastery  told  him,  so  Dr.  Thompson  says,  that  every 
third  day  St.  George,  their  patron  saint,  descends  into 
the  fountain  and  forces  the  water  out  with  a  loud  noise 
to  irrigate  the  extensive  plantations  belonging  to  their 
order.  The  cave  out  of  which  the  river  issues  is  at  the 
base  of  a  hill  of  limestone  involved  in  a  formation  of 
traprock,  “and  it  is  well  known,”  Dr.  Thompson  con- 


76  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tinues,  “that  subterranean  reservoirs  of  water  are 
sometimes  drained  by  intermitting  fountains  acting 
upon  the  principle  of  the  siphon.  If  the  supply  were 
greater  or  exactly  equal  to  the  capacity  of  the  pool,  it 
would  always  be  full  and  there  would  be  no  intermis¬ 
sion.  The  periods  of  intermission  and  size  of  the 
stream  depend  upon  the  capacity  of  the  pool.  If,  in 
the  time  of  Josephus,  as  the  latter  declares,  it  required 
six  days  to  fill  the  pool  and  the  siphon  could  exhaust 
it  in  one,  we  have  the  conditions  to  sustain  his  state¬ 
ment,  a  river  running  only  on  the  seventh  day.  If,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  required  six  days  to  draw  off  the 
water  we  have  the  conditions  for  the  phenomenon  men¬ 
tioned  by  Pliny.” 

I  was  not  able  to  find  this  extraordinary  river,  nor 
does  anybody  of  whom  I  made  inquiries  in  Damas¬ 
cus  know  anything  about  it;  neither  the  consul  nor  the 
guides  at  the  hotels,  nor  other  persons  who  are  famil¬ 
iar  with  the  country. 

The  Greeks  formerly  called  this  part  of  Syria  Phoe¬ 
nicia,  the  “land  of  palms,”  because  those  trees  were 
lovelier  and  more  numerous  here  than  anywhere  else  in 
the  East.  The  palm  has  been  accepted  by  all  the 
eastern  nations  as  the  highest  type  of  grace  and 
beauty.  The  columns  of  the  temples  erected  in  Egypt 
in  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  and  afterward  in  Greece, 
in  Palmyra,  Babylon,  Nineveh,  and  then  in  Rome, 
were  modeled  in  imitation  of  the  trunk  of  the  palm, 
and  the  most  beautiful  of  the  daughters  of  Israel  were 
named  after  the  tree.  The  daughter  of  David  and  the 
daughter  of  Absalom  were  called  “Tamar,”  which  is  a 
synonym  for  palm,  and  the  name  is  still  common 
among  the  women  of  Syria.  You  will  find  palm 
branches  used  extensively  in  all  the  decorations  of  the 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


77 


Egyptians  and  the  ancient  artists  of  the  East,  and  they 
were  held  as  emblems  of  honor  among  the  Hebrews,  as 
the  laurel  among  the  Romans  and  Greeks.  For  that 
reason  the  people  spread  palm  branches  in  the  path  of 
the  Saviour  when  He  made  His  triumphal  entry  into 
Jerusalem. 

The  olive  also  is  a  beautiful  tree,  and  better  than  the 
palm,  because  it  is  modest,  useful  and  enduring.  Its 
shade  is  deep  and  grateful,  while  the  palm  casts  none. 
The  fruit  of  the  olive  is  the  mainstay  of  the  people, 
indispensable  to  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community. 
The  farmer  and  the  laborer  leave  their  homes  in  the 
morning  with  no  other  provision  than  a  loaf  of  bread 
and  a  package  of  pickled  olives  wrapped  up  in  leaves. 
That  is  their  daily  dinner,  and  it  satisfies  them.  The 
oil  of  the  olive  is  a  substitute  for  butter  and  lard,  and 
is  needed  for  the  cooking  of  almost  every  dish,  while 
until  recently  it  was  the  chief  illuminating  power  of 
the  eastern  communities.  Kerosene  is  rapidly  repla¬ 
cing  it,  owing  to  the  cheap  price  at  which  it  is  sold. 
The  entire  supply  of  soap  used  in  Syria  is  made  of 
olive  oil. 

The  olive  tree  has  a  very  slow  growth;  it  bears  no 
berries  for  seven  years,  and  the  crop  scarcely  pays  for 
the  gathering  until  the  tree  is  ten  years  old,  but  it  will 
continue  to  yield  abundantly  for  centuries,  to  extreme 
old  age,  and  requires  but  little  care.  So  long  as  there 
is  a  mere  fragment  of  the  trunk  remaining  green  shoots 
will  burst  out  and  yield  oily  berries.  There  are  knobs 
or  large  warts  on  the  body  of  the  trees.  If  you  will 
cut  one  of  them  off,  plant  it  in  good  soil,  give  it  plenty 
of  water  and  sunshine,  it  will  strike  out  roots  and 
grow.  Large  trees  in  a  good  season  will  yield  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  bushels  of  olives,  which  are  good  for 


78  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


ten  or  twelve  gallons  of  oil.  The  oil  is  made  by  crush¬ 
ing  the  olives  under  hydraulic  pressure.  By  an  ancient 
custom  the  olive  groves  around  Damascus  are  guarded 
by  official  watchmen  to  prevent  the  trees  from  being 
stripped  by  thieves.  But  each  year  the  governor,  or 
some  magistrate,  issues  a  proclamation  warning  all 
owners  of  olive  trees  that  they  must  pick  their  fruit, 
for  after  a  certain  date  it  becomes  public  property. 
If  a  farmer  has  his  crop  only  half  gathered  when  that 
date  arrives  the  public  will  gather  it  for  him. 

The  train  approaches  Damascus  through  a  narrow 
valley,  almost  a  gorge,  at  the  bottom  of  which  is  a 
roaring  stream  known  nowadays  as  the  Barada,  but 
formerly  the  Abana.  This  pride  of  the  country  comes 
from  a  wonderful  spring,  which,  summer  and  winter 
gushes  out  of  the  rocks  at  the  rate  of  several  hundred 
gallons  a  minute,  and  goes  bounding  over  its  rocky 
bed,  foaming  and  roaring  as  if  rejoicing  to  reach  the 
sunshine  after  confinement  in  some  subterranean 
reservoir.  Since  the  days  of  Naaman,  the  leper,  this 
stream  has  been  famous.  You  will  remember  that  he 
was  a  great  captain  of  Damascus,  and  the  Bible  says 
“he  was  also  a  mighty  man  in  valor,  but  he  was  a 
leper.”  At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  a  servant  in  his 
family,  “a  little  captive  maid  out  of  the  land  of 
Israel,”  he  went  to  Samaria  to  find  the  Prophet  Elisha 
and  be  cured.  He  took  with  him  ten  talents  of  silver, 
6,000  pieces  of  gold,  ten  changes  of  raiment  and  a 
letter  of  introduction  from  the  King  of  Damascus  to 
Jehoram,  the  King  of  Israel.  But  Elisha  merely  told 
him  to  go  and  wash  seven  times  in  Jordan.  Naaman 
was  indignant  at  what  he  considered  contemptuous 
treatment  and  exclaimed:  “Are  not  Abana  and  Phar- 
par,  rivers  of  Damascus,  better  than  all  the  waters  of 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


79 


Israel?”  So  he  turned  and  went  away  in  a  rage.  But 
you  will  remember  that  he  dipped  in  the  Jordan  seven 
times  all  the  same,  as  the  prophet  told  him,  and  when 
Elisha  refused  to  receive  a  “blessing,”  as  Naaman 
called  his  gift — they  call  it  baksheesh  now — the  great 
soldier  asked  for  “two  mules’  burden  of  earth”  to 
build  an  altar  at  Damascus,  so  that  he  might  make 
sacrifices  to  Elisha’s  God. 

The  house  of  Naaman  is  still  pointed  out  to  tourists. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  picturesque  and  ancient  structures 
in  Damascus  and  quite  appropriately  is  used  for  a  leper 
hospital.  I  don’t  wonder  that  Naaman  was  disgusted, 
for  anyone  who  has  seen  both  Jordan  and  Abana  would 
naturally  feel  the  same  way.  Abana  is  a  clear,  cold, 
crystal  stream.  Jordan  is  turgid  and  muddy. 

Abana’s  powerful  current  drives  numerous  mills, 
which  we  can  see  from  the  windows  of  the  railway 
train,  and  the  entrances  of  all  of  them  are  surrounded 
with  groups  of  mules,  donkeys  and  camels,  which  have 
brought  little  loads  of  grain  to  the  mill  to  be  ground, 
as  in  the  olden  time,  between  antiquated  millstones 
revolving  upon  a  wooden  axle.  Some  of  them  are 
centuries  old;  perhaps  they  may  date  as  far  back  as 
the  days  of  the  prophets,  for  water  was  used  as  a 
motive  power  in  their  time,  and  this  very  highway, 
which  follows  the  Abana  River  to  the  mills,  was  often 
trod  by  the  feet  of  Abraham. 

I  must  ask  the  reader  to  excuse  these  digressions  and 
go  back  with  me  to  the  late  residence  of  Adam,  so 
that  we  may  enter  the  old  city  in  due  and  proper  order. 
The  valley  through  which  the  railway  approaches 
Damascus  is  called  Ghutah,  and  is  said  to  be  the  most 
fertile  in  Syria,  being  freely  watered  by  the  Abana  and 
other  rivers  which  bring  life  and  carry  away  decay. 


8o  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


There  are  about  150  square  miles  of  brilliant  fields  and 
meadows,  just  now  looking  fresh  and  vivid,  broken 
here  and  there  by  orchards  of  olive  trees  and  figs  and 
other  fruits.  Just  before  reaching  the  city  there  is  a 
group  of  villas  occupied  by  exiles,  pashas  and  other 
officers  of  the  Turkish  government,  who  by  some  act 
or  another  have  offended  the  sultan,  or  through  the 
reports  of  spies  have  excited  the  suspicion  of  their 
imperial  master,  who  has  sent  them  to  Damascus, 
where  they  can  be  closely  watched.  It  is  considered  a 
great  act  of  forbearance  for  him  to  banish  them  here 
instead  of  sending  them  to  Bagdad  or  some  of  the 
other  cities  of  the  interior  that  are  much  farther  out  of 
the  modern  world  and  have  very  few  of  the  attractions 
of  Damascus.  It  is  lucky  for  most  of  them  that  they 
were  allowed  to  go  anywhere  at  all,  but  the  present 
sultan  is  very  merciful.  He  does  not  often  behead  one 
of  his  former  servants. 

Fuad  Pasha,  while  we  were  in  Damascus,  arrived  to 
add  another  distinguished  victim  of  the  sultan’s  spy 
system  to  the  Damascus  colony.  Everybody  who 
knew  him,  particularly  the  ambassadors  and  ministers 
and  other  foreign  residents  of  Constantinople,  testify 
that  he  was  a  loyal  and  honorable  man  and  that  the  sul¬ 
tan  made  a  great  mistake  in  believing  the  falsehoods 
that  have  been  told  about  him.  But  if  reports  are  true 
other  exiles  are  equally  worthy  of  the  sultan’s  confi¬ 
dence,  and  their  punishment  is  equally  unjust.  The 
villas  which  these  exiles  occupy  belong  to  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Most  of  them  are  comfortable  and  well  situ¬ 
ated.  There  are  no  more  desirable  residences  in  Syria, 
and  if  anyone  is  compelled  to  live  in  Turkey  he  could 
not  choose  a  pleasanter  place. 

There  was  a  great  tumult  at  the  railway  station  as 


THE  JOURNEY  TO  DAMASCUS 


81 


the  train  rolled  in.  Everybody  in  Damascus  seemed 
to  have  come  down  to  give  us  a  welcome,  and  the 
vociferation  of  the  railway  officials,  the  hackmen,  the 
policemen  and  the  porters  was  enough  to  frighten  a 
nervous  person  out  of  his  wits.  Trains  have  been 
arriving  and  departing  from  the  old  city  for  more  than 
six  years,  and  yet  the  people  do  not  seem  to  get  used 
to  the  novelty.  Every  idle  man  in  town  makes  it  his 
business  to  come  down  to  the  station  every  day  at  train 
time.  Fences  have  been  built  to  bar  them  from  the 
platform,  and  yet  they  will  gather  an  hour  before  and 
stand  behind  the  barricade  six  or  eight  rows  deep  for 
the  pleasure  of  witnessing  the  arrival  of  the  cars  and 
the  movements  of  the  passengers.  We  managed  to 
force  our  way  through  the  crowd  with  the  hotel  porter 
guiding  us,  found  some  carriages  and  drove  through 
the  dusty  streets  to  a  very  comfortable  hotel — one  of 
the  best  we  found  in  the  East. 


IV 


The  Oldest  City  We  Know 


83 


IV 

THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 

There  may  be  older  cities  than  Damascus  in  China 
and  India,  but  we  do  not  know  them,  and  we  do  know 
that  there  are  none  more  venerable  on  this  side  of  the 
world.  Its  origin  is  lost  in  the  mist  of  the  early  ages, 
but  was  pretty  close  to  the  beginning  of  things.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Moslem  tradition  the  foundations  were  laid  soon 
after  the  creation  of  the  earth,  and  Adam  was  one  of 
the  original  town-site  owners.  After  his  expulsion 
from  Eden  he  crossed  the  desert  from  the  valley  of 
the  Euphrates  with  his  family,  and  settled  in  the  val¬ 
ley  of  the  Barada,  which  he  preferred  to  Paradise  in 
many  respects.  There  is  a  difference  in  taste  about 
places,  just  as  there  is  about  people  and  food  and 
jokes,  and  it  must  be  said  in  defense  of  Adam  that  he 
had  not  seen  much  of  the  world.  Mohammed  never 
entered  the  City  of  Damascus.  He  first  caught  sight 
of  it  from  the  top  of  a  hill  in  the  suburbs.  A  temple 
stands  there  now  to  mark  the  spot.  He  gazed  and 
gazed  and  gazed,  enraptured  with  the  scene,  and  then, 
making  the  greatest  sacrifice  of  his  life,  turned  away 
and  would  not  enter  the  gates.  “Man  can  have  but 
one  paradise,”  he  remarked  to  his  companion,  “and 
mine  is  above.” 

There  is  a  charming  view  from  Mohammed’s  Tem¬ 
ple.  There  is  no  doubt  of  it.  The  landscape  is  lovely 
and  the  domes  and  minarets,  the  towers  and  the  roofs 
of  the  city  are  wonderfully  fascinating;  but,  according 
to  our  notion,  there  can  be  no  Eden  without  a  good 

85 


86  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


deal  more  turf  and  foliage  and  flowers  than  can  be 
found  around  Damascus.  At  the  same  time  it  is  one 
of  the  best  shaded  cities  in  Syria.  The  valley  is  well 
watered  and  there  are  a  good  many  groves  in  the 
neighborhood,  while  at  this  season  of  the  year  the 
entire  surface  of  the  country  is  livid  with  the  young 
shoots  of  wheat  that  are  giving  their  greeting  to  the 
sun.  To  the  dwellers  in  the  desert,  therefore,  Damas¬ 
cus  must  have  a  refreshing  and  grateful  appearance, 
and  so  much  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  in  this  section 
is  covered  with  sand  that  we  who  live  in  an  endless 
oasis  cannot  fully  appreciate  the  feelings  and  the 
pride  of  the  Syrians  in  their  metropolis. 

The  view  of  Damascus  from  a  minaret  is  worth  a 
long  climb,  and  the  central  minaret,  called  Madinet 
el  ’Arus  (the  minaret  of  the  bride),  has  a  spiral  stair¬ 
way  of  160  steps  to  the  gallery,  from  which  the  muez¬ 
zin  cries  the  hour  of  prayer.  A  still  higher  minaret  is 
called  Madinet  Isa  (the  minaret  of  Jesus),  because  of 
a  prophecy  that  on  the  last  day  Jesus  will  descend 
from  heaven  to  its  balcony  and  there  sit  in  judgment 
upon  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  view  from  that 
gallery  over  the  most  Oriental  of  all  cities  Lis  exceed¬ 
ingly  interesting,  although  disappointing.  There  is  a 
lack  of  color,  and  none  of  the  gilded  spires  and  domes 
that  brighten  up  the  Russian  cities.  The  roofs  of  the 
houses  are  flat  and  the  color  of  clay.  The  streets  are 
narrow  and  it  is  difficult  to  trace  them.  There  is  very 
little  foliage,  and  the  Oriental  gardens  that  you  read 
about,  with  their  splashing  fountains,  figs,  orange  and 
palm  trees,  are  very  few.  They  are  there,  of  course, 
in  sufficient  number  to  justify  the  description,  but  not 
so  numerous  as  readers  of  books  on  oriental  life  have 
a  right  to  expect.  The  corrugated  iron  roofs  that 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  87 


mark  the  bazaars  give  a  peculiar  appearance  to  the 
scene.  They  are  so  new  and  modern  and  so  unlike 
the  rest  of  the  city,  and  some  of  them  shine  like  tin 
pans  around  the  dairy  of  an  Iowa  farm.  Occasionally 
a  new  building  rises  from  among  the  old  ones  in  a 
most  impertinent  and  aggressive  manner,  and  looks 
very  large  and  very  bold  in  a  coat  of  new  orange  paint, 
which  is  the  favorite  color.  The  expenditure  of  a  few 
carloads  of  calcimine  upon  the  walls  of  Damascus 
would  bring  the  city  nearer  to  the  ideal  we  had 
formed  of  it,  and  even  whitewash  would  go  a  good 
ways.  The  tone  is  dull  and  dreary,  a  monotonous 
area  of  mud-colored  roofs  and  walls,  only  broken  here 
and  there  by  minarets  and  domes  of  a  similar  shade. 
The  domes  mark  Turkish  bathhouses  as  well  as  places 
of  worship,  and  sometimes  khans  or  wholesale  places 
of  trade. 

The  outlook  beyond  and  around  the  city  is  lovely, 
and  extends  to  the  ranges  of  mountains  inclosing  the 
fertile  valley  in  which  Damascus  stands — a  vast  and 
diversified  landscape,  hills  and  valleys,  hopeless 
deserts,  vivid  fields  of  wheat,  pastures  of  grayish 
green,  almost  the  same  color  as  the  olive  groves,  and 
here  and  there  the  plumage  of  a  cluster  of  palms.  It 
is  certainly  a  most  beautiful  prospect  when  compared 
with  its  sandy  and  rocky  surroundings,  but  if  it  were 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Newport  or  Lake  Forest,  or 
Madison,  Wis.,  and  many  other  places  I  might  name, 
one  wouldn’t  look  at  the  view  from  Damascus  a 
second  time. 

Kaiser  William  of  Germany,  like  the  Roman 
emperors,  always  erects  monuments  or  tablets  wher¬ 
ever  he  goes,  and  during  his  visit  to  Palestine  in  1898 
he  scattered  them  quite  freely  over  the  country. 


88  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Upon  one  of  the  foothills  of  the  Anti-Lebanon 
Mountains  from  which  he  viewed  the  landscape  I 
have  described,  he  erected  a  stately  shaft  and 
engraved  upon  it  an  inscription  expressing  his  august 
approval  of  the  picture  that  nature  had  spread  out 
before  him. 

Josephus  informs  us  that  Damascus  was  founded  by 
Uz,  the  grandson  of  Shem  and  the  great-grandson  of 
Noah,  and  accepts  the  tradition  that  Abraham  invaded 
the  country  from  the  land  of  the  Chaldeans  and  ruled 
as  King  of  Damascus.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
that  Abraham  ever  reigned  here,  but  the  best  Biblical 
authorities  assert  that  the  city  lay  on  the  line  of  his 
migration  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  into  the  land  of 
Caanan,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  he  may  have 
remained  a  considerable  time  in  the  neighborhood. 
Eliezer,  his  steward,  and  until  the  birth  of  Isaac  the 
heir  to  his  property,  was  a  Damascus  man,  as  the 
Bible  tells  us,  and  we  know  from  the  same  authority 
that  he  fought  King  Chedorlaomer  in  this  country. 
Damascus  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
Genesis,  and  Mesjid  Ibrahim,  where  Abraham  erected 
an  altar  and  gave  thanks  to  God  for  his  victory,  is 
still  a  sacred  shrine  venerated  by  all  the  many  sects  in 
Syria.  After  the  time  of  Abraham  there  is  no  further 
notice  of  Damascus  in  the  Bible  until  the  reign  of 
David,  a  period  of  nearly  nine  hundred  years,  for 
David’s  expansion  policy  soon  brought  him  into  hos¬ 
tile  collision  with  the  people  of  Damascus.  He  slew 
two  and  twenty  thousand  of  them,  “and  the  Syrians 
became  servants  to  David  and  brought  gifts.”  Pos¬ 
session  lasted  only  during  his  lifetime,  for  when  Solo¬ 
mon  came  to  the  throne  the  Damascenes  threw  off  the 
yoke  and  regained  their  independence.  There  was 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  89 

continuous  war  between  them  and  Israel,  however,  and 
a  great  deal  of  space  in  the  Bible  is  taken  up  relating 
the  bloody  events  that  occurred. 

Damascus,  however,  is  not  in  the  Holy  Land.  It  is 
not  a  part  of  the  heritage  of  Israel,  although  it  was 
the  goal  of  all  the  great  thoroughfares  and  the  envy  of 
the  Jewish  people.  It  has  seen  the  rise  and  fall  of 
many  empires.  It  was  old  when  Jerusalem  was 
founded  and  it  flourishes  still  when  the  great  cities  of 
the  Jews  have  perished.  During  all  the  successive 
civilizations  and  religions  which  have  supplanted  each 
other  for  four  thousand  years,  the  old  city  has 
remained  intact  as  if  possessed  of  the  secret  of  per¬ 
petual  youth,  perhaps  because,  as  a  market  and  a  trad¬ 
ing  place,  it  is  alike  indispensable  to  the  civilization 
along  the  Mediterranean  coast  and  the  nomad  tribes  of 
the  interior.  In  its  bazaars  for  more  than  forty  cen¬ 
turies  the  traders  of  the  East  and  the  traders  of  the 
West  have  met  to  exchange  merchandise.  It  occupies 
a  remarkable  site  on  the  edge  of  the  great  Assyrian 
desert,  and  its  preservation  is  a  phenomenon,  for  the 
most  enduring  city  in  the  world  is  entirely  incapable  of 
defense.  It  was  once  surrounded  by  a  great  wall,  a 
part  of  which  is  still  preserved,  but  was  never  much 
protection  against  an  enemy.  Invaders  have  come 
one  after  the  other  and  occupied  Damascus  as  their 
own.  Dynasties  have  arisen  and  made  it  their  cap¬ 
ital,  erected  palaces  and  temples  and  embellished  its 
dwellings  and  have  passed  away.  All  the  great  gen¬ 
erals  of  Oriental  fame  have  captured  it,  made  it  their 
headquarters  and  departed.  More  history  has  been 
written  in  Damascus  than  in  any  other  place.  It  has 
been  a  harbor  of  refuge  upon  the  desert,  the  earliest 
sea  that  mankind  learned  to  navigate,  the  source  of  the 


go  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


supplies  of  the  Bedouins,  the  terminus  of  the  voyages 
of  the  “fleets  of  the  desert,”  the  market  for  the  mer¬ 
chandise  of  all  the  East. 

Centuries  before  England  had  an  organized  govern¬ 
ment  or  the  name  of  Germany  was  known,  Damascus 
was  carrying  on  a  profitable  trade  with  Peking  and 
other  cities  of  China.  Even  before  the  time  of  Moses 
it  was  visited  by  the  Pharaohs,  who  came  all  the  way 
from  Egypt  to  look  upon  the  wonders  and  grandeur  of 
this  great  commercial  capital.  There  are  objects  in 
Damascus  older  than  the  pyramids,  and  the  secret  of 
their  endurance  has  been  their  defenseless  but  useful 
position. 

Damascus  was  one  of  the  cities  that  escaped  the 
relentless  fanaticism  of  the  crusaders  and  was  after¬ 
ward  the  capital  of  Saladin,  whose  tomb  is  just  outside 
of  the  famous  mosque  of  Omayyade.  It  is  sheltered 
by  a  charming  little  temple,  occupied  by  a  company  of 
Moslem  monks,  who  are  required  to  maintain  per¬ 
petual  prayer  for  the  repose  of  his  soul.  There  are 
many  Catholic  convents  in  which  perpetual  adoration 
is  the  rule,  but  I  understand  that  this  is  the  only  place 
in  all  the  world  of  Islam  where  such  a  practice  is 
observed.  It  is  not,  the  priests  told  me,  because 
Saladin  was  such  a  bad  man  that  they  need  to  pray 
perpetually  for  him,  but  it  is  an  act  of  adoration,  the 
highest  honor  that  can  be  paid.  He  was  the  greatest 
of  all  the  Saracen  warriors,  the  greatest  hero  of 
romance  and  chivalry  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  drove 
the  crusaders  from  the  Holy  Land.  He  was  the  mas¬ 
ter  of  Syria,  made  Damascus  his  capital,  surrounded  it 
with  new  fortifications,  caused  mosques,  schools  and 
fountains  to  be  built  and  founded  the  first  court  of  jus¬ 
tice,  in  which  he  often  sat  himself.  There  is  no  greater 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


9i 


hero  in  Moslem  history  or  tradition  except  the  prophet 
himself. 

In  this  little  tomb  Saladin’s  son  lies  by  his  side. 
H  is  wife  is  buried  in  one  of  the  ordinary  cemeteries  of 
the  city.  The  sarcophagus  of  the  great  warrior  is  built 
of  wood,  covered  with  black  broadcloth  heavily 
embroidered  with  silver,  and  cashmere  shawls  of 
exquisite  texture. 

At  the  head  of  the  sarcophagus  is  a  faded  bouquet 
of  flowers  carefully  preserved  under  a  globe  of  glass. 
They  were  placed  there  by  Kaiser  William  II.  of  Ger¬ 
many,  during  his  visit  to  Damascus  in  1898,  and  have 
remained  there  ever  since.  After  his  departure  and 
return  to  Berlin  he  sent  an  ornamental  wreath  of  silver 
gilt  and  of  elaborate  design  to  replace  the  bouquet, 
but  the  monks  in  charge  of  the  place  would  not  admit 
it,  because  among  the  decorations  was  a  Maltese  cross. 
The  disposition  of  the  wreath  was  a  matter  of  serious 
consideration,  until  some  ingenious  person  suggested 
that  they  build  a  little  bay  window  to  the  temple  to 
contain  it,  which  was  done.  That  projection  is  not 
on  consecrated  ground;  it  lies  outside  the  temple, 
although  it  is  a  part  of  the  same  building  and  is 
divided  from  the  tomb  only  by  a  partition  of  glass. 
But  the  holy  place  was  preserved  from  profanation 
and  due  honor  was  paid  to  the  kaiser’s  gift. 

Near  the  East  Gate  of  the  City  of  Damascus  are 
several  interesting  places  associated  with  Scriptural 
history.  A  large  dilapidated  building,  now  used  as  a 
hospital  for  leprosy  and  other  contagious  diseases,  is 
said  to  have  once  been  the  palace  of  Naaman,  the 
leper,  who  was  cured  by  Elisha.  Biblical  students  are 
inclined  to  think  that  the  hospital  may  occupy  the 
same  site  as  Naaman’ s  Palace.  It  is  considered  very 


92  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


likely  that  more  than  one  structure  has  been  erected 
and  crumbled  upon  those  foundations  since  the  great 
Syrian  general  washed  in  the  waters  of  the  Jordan. 

A  little  farther  in  the  other  direction  is  a  tower  on 
the  wall  known  as  St.  Paul’s  Tower,  for  there,  accord¬ 
ing  to  tradition,  the  apostle  was  let  down  through  a 
window  in  a  basket,  as  he  informs  us  in  his  second 
letter  to  the  Corinthians,  and  escaped  the  vengeance 
of  the  governor.  An  Arab  lady  with  a  brilliant  cos¬ 
tume  stared  at  us  out  of  the  window  of  the  tower,  and 
observing  our  kodaks  pointed  that  way,  requested  us 
to  send  her  a  photograph.  The  atmosphere  in  that 
vicinity  is  polluted  by  enormous  piles  of  manure, 
which  cover  a  large  area  along  the  walls,  and  every 
now  and  then  are  stirred  up  in  order  to  dry.  The 
stuff  is  used  for  fuel  and  not  for  fertilizer. 

Across  the  street  are  the  cemeteries  of  the  various 
Christian  denominations,  one  of  them  being  especially 
notable  for  the  tomb  of  St  George,  who  killed  the 
dragon.  I  was  not  able  to  discover  any  evidence  to 
sustain  the  claim  that  the  patron  saint  of  Great 
Britain  is  buried  there,  but  it  is  defended  with  great 
confidence  by  Moslems,  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics, 
notwithstanding  the  almost  positive  testimony  in  favor 
of  Lydda,  the  town  in  which  St.  George  was  born  and 
lived  and  suffered  martyrdom,  and  where  a  church 
erected  in  his  honor  has  been  standing  since  the  time 
of  Constantine.  Lydda  is  on  the  highway  between 
Jaffa  and  Jerusalem  and  was  one  of  the  chief  citadels 
of  the  Crusaders. 

The  tomb  of  St.  George  in  the  Damascus  cemetery 
is  a  rude  edifice,  inclosed  by  a  cheap  wooden  fence  in 
order  to  protect  it  from  relic  hunters.  The  grave, 
which  is  walled  up  with  brick  and  smeared  with 


THE  WALL  AT  DAMASCUS,  WHERE  ST.  PAUL  WAS  LET  DOWN. 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


93 


cement,  is  the  shrine  of  many  devotees  of  all  the 
religious  sects.  It  seems  to  be  revered  by  Moham¬ 
medans  quite  as  much  as  by  Christians,  and  offerings 
of  flowers  are  constantly  placed  there. 

In  a  neighboring  cemetery  is  the  tomb  of  Henry 
Thomas  Buckle,  the  eminent  English  historian,  who 
died  in  1862. 

The  site  of  the  conversion  of  St.  Paul,  who,  as  he 
came  near  Damascus,  “breathing  out  threatenings  and 
slaughter  against  the  disciples  of  the  Lord,*'  and  with 
a  warrant  from  the  high  priest  to  arrest  any  men  or 
women  who  believed  in  Jesus,  “and  bring  them  bound 
unto  Jerusalem,”  met  the  Holy  One  himself,  and  was 
stricken  with  blindness,  was  formerly  located  at  the 
village  of  Kaukab,  about  six  miles  southwest  of 
Damascus  on  the  road  to  Galilee.  During  the  last 
half  century,  however,  the  monks  have  removed  it  to 
a  more  convenient  locality,  near  the  window  in  the 
wall,  the  house  of  Naaman  and  the  tomb  of  St. 
George,  so  that  pilgrims  can  visit  all  three  places  in 
the  same  day.  Four  other  spots  have  enjoyed  the 
honor  at  different  periods. 

Within  five  minutes’  walk  also  is  the  house  of  “a 
certain  disciple  at  Damascus  named  Ananias,”  to 
whom  the  Lord  appeared  in  a  vision  and  instructed 
him  to  “go  into  the  street  which  is  called  Straight, 
and  inquire  in  the  house  of  Judas  for  one  called  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  for  behold  he  prayeth.”  And  Ananias 
cured  Paul  of  blindness,  baptized  him  and  sent  him  on 
his  way  to  preach  the  gospel  and  “confound  the  Jews 
which  dwelt  at  Damascus,  proving  that  this  is  the  very 
Christ.” 

The  house  of  Ananias  is  within  the  city  walls  and 
belongs  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Sisters  of  Charity,  who 


94  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


have  preserved  it  with  tender  care,  and  keep  it  in 
beautiful  order,  as  they  do  other  things.  There  is  a 
damp  little  chapel  underground,  in  which  the  Chris¬ 
tians  used  to  meet  secretly  for  worship  during  the  per¬ 
secution  period.  The  houses  of  Judas  are  near  by. 
The  Greeks  have  one  and  the  Roman  Catholics  have 
another,  and  probably  the  claims  of  both  for  authentic¬ 
ity  are  worthless.  All  these  holy  places  are  situated 
in  what  is  known  as  the  Christian  quarter,  where  the 
Roman  Catholics,  the  Protestants,  the  Armenians,  the 
Orthodox  Greeks  and  the  Greek  Catholics  have  con¬ 
vents  and  schools.  During  the  massacre  of  i860 
nearly  all  that  part  of  the  city  was  destroyed.  The 
buildings  were  looted  and  burned,  and  their  occupants 
were  murdered  in  the  streets  by  the  hundreds. 

Outside  the  walls,  near  a  little  village  held  sacred 
by  the  Mohammedans,  is  a  place  where  Abraham  is 
said  to  have  accepted  the  doctrine  of  the  unity  of  God. 
His  father  was  a  heathen,  and  worshiped  many  heathen 
deities,  but  Abraham,  according  to  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  passages  in  the  Koran,  beheld  a  brilliant  star, 
which  he  followed  to  that  place,  as  the  wise  men  fol¬ 
lowed  the  Star  of  Bethlehem,  and  there  received  a 
vision  which  convinced  him  that  there  was  only  one 
true  God,  the  Creator  and  the  Father  of  all  things. 
The  footprints  of  Abraham  are  still  shown  in  the  rock. 

At  the  village  of  Jobar,  about  two  miles  farther 
down  the  road,  is  a  synagogue  occupying  the  spot 
where  Elijah  anointed  Elisha  to  be  a  prophet,  and 
beyond  it  is  a  little  cavern  in  the  rock  where  Elijah 
was  fed  by  the  ravens.  There  are  several  other  caves 
in  different  parts  of  Palestine  which  claim  the  same 
honor  and  disputes  over  their  authenticity  become 
very  warm  at  times. 


THE  STREET  THAT  IS  CALLED  STRAIGHT.  DAMASCUS. 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


95 


“The  street  which  is  called  Straight”  still  goes  by 
that  name,  and  is  the  most  important  thoroughfare  of 
Damascus.  It  is  much  wider  than  any  other  street  in 
the  city,  although  its  name  is  a  misnomer,  for  it  has 
several  turns.  A  tradition  that  it  was  once  lined  on 
both  sides  with  a  colonnade  and  separate  avenues  for 
foot  passengers  and  for  chariots  is  confirmed  by  ruins 
that  have  been  excavated  at  various  places.  It  is  now 
about  one  hundred  feet  wide,  and  for  a  mile  or  more  is 
well  built  up  and  occupied  by  the  best  shops  in  the 
city  outside  of  the  bazaars. 

The  Jewish  quarter  is  on  one  side  of  this  famous 
street,  and  the  Christian  quarter  on  the  other.  The 
Jewish  quarter  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  part  of  the  city, 
and  all  historians  agree  that  it  has  been  continuously 
occupied  by  the  ancestors  of  the  present  inhabitants 
from  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  at  least. 
Several  of  the  synagogues  date  back  to  the  time  of 
Paul,  and  the  Hebrew  colony  have  perpetuated  the  lan¬ 
guage  and  religion,  their  costumes,  manners  and  cus¬ 
toms  without  material  change  to  the  present  day. 
Nowhere  in  the  world,  it  is  claimed,  has  there  been  for 
thousands  of  years  so  little  variation  in  the  mode  of 
life  as  in  the  Jewish  quarter  of  Damascus,  and  if  the 
houses  now  occupied  were  not  standing  at  the  time  of 
David,  they  occupy  the  same  sites,  and  in  many  cases 
the  same  foundations,  of  those  that  stood  then. 

Damascus  is  2,260  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  the 
population  is  estimated  all  the  way  between  250,000 
and  500,000.  There  has  never  been  a  census.  It  is, 
however,  much  less  than  formerly.  It  is  believed  that 
there  were  as  many  as  2,000,000  population  as  far  back 
as  the  seventh  century,  when  it  was  the  capital  of  the 
world.  At  least  one-third  of  the  inhabitants  are 


g6  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Mohammedans,  and  it  is  the  popular  opinion  that  ten 
per  cent  are  Orthodox  Greek,  ten  per  cent  Jews,  five 
per  cent  Greek  Catholics,  700  or  800  Roman  Catholics 
and  about  1,000  Protestants,  mostly  foreigners.  There 
are  only  two  American  families,  both  missionaries.  Dr. 
Crawford  has  been  living  there  for  forty-four  years, 
formerly  as  the  representative  of  the  American  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions,  but  of  late  years  working  with 
the  Irish  Presbyterians,  to  whom  the  field  was  sur¬ 
rendered. 

There  is  a  Presbyterian  church  of  144  communicants 
and  a  congregation  averaging  300,  mostly  converts 
from  the  Greeks.  There  have  been  no  converts  from 
the  Mohammedans  nor  from  the  Jews  since  the  Protes¬ 
tants  have  been  in  this  community.  Nor  could  I  find 
that  any  impression  has  been  made  upon  the  members 
of  either  religion,  although  their  children  and  young 
men  and  women  frequently  attend  the  Protestant 
schools,  accept  treatment  at  their  hospitals  and  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  their  benevolence.  In  the  neighborhood 
of  Damascus  are  ten  native  congregations  of  Protes¬ 
tants  and  schools  with  native  teachers.  In  the  city 
there  is  a  school  for  girls  with  about  sixty  scholars. 
The  British  Syrian  Mission  maintains  four  schools  and 
an  asylum  for  the  blind.  The  Roman  Catholics  have 
a  college  at  which  a  good  education  is  furnished  in  the 
French  language  under  the  direction  of  the  Franciscan 
monks.  The  Sisters  of  Charity  have  a  small  hospital, 
a  girls’  school  with  about  250  pupils  and  an  orphanage 
with  forty  or  fifty  inmates.  Other  denominations  have 
schools  also,  both  for  boys  and  girls.  The  Orthodox 
Greeks  are  particularly  active  in  educational  matters, 
and  the  Jews  take  considerable  pride  in  their  schools. 

Several  Syrian  merchants  in  Damascus  have  spent 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


97 


much  time  in  the  United  States  and  returned  to  their 
birthplace  with  considerable  wealth.  There  is  a  con¬ 
stant  stream  of  emigration  also  from  the  old  city  to 
the  new  world,  and  it  is  asserted  that  not  less  than 
1,000  Damascenes  reside  in  Chicago  alone.  The  trade 
is  comparatively  small,  although  it  is  growing,  the 
direct  result  of  the  World’s  Fair  at  Chicago. 

The  Damascenes  are  very  fond  of  their  city,  but 
they  are  notorious  for  their  intolerance,  fanaticism  and 
cruelty.  The  Moslems  are  illiterate  and  proud.  They 
realize  the  advancement  and  the  superiority  of  the 
West  and  the  comparative  insignificance  of  Damascus 
in  the  affairs  of  the  world  at  present,  after  having 
occupied  so  conspicuous  a  position  for  forty  centuries, 
and  cannot  conceal  or  repress  their  resentment.  They 
consider  themselves  superior  to  other  nations,  and  their 
helplessness  makes  them  jealous  and  vindictive  instead 
of  stimulating  them  to  enterprise.  While  foreigners  are 
safe  in  Damascus  if  they  observe  the  proprieties,  they 
are  not  allowed  in  several  parts  of  the  city  and  are  apt 
to  be  insulted  wherever  they  may  go.  We  were  warned 
against  attending  the  theater  for  fear  we  might  be 
jostled  and  otherwise  treated  rudely;  we  were  cau¬ 
tioned  not  to  go  into  any  of  the  mosques  without  a 
military  escort;  we  were  advised  that  people  were 
making  unpleasant  comments  upon  us  as  we  wandered 
through  the  bazaars,  but  as  we  did  not  understand  the 
language  it  made  no  difference,  and  no  one  offered  the 
slightest  violence  or  showed  evidences  of  hostility. 

Damascus  is  the  residence  of  the  governor  of  the 
province  of  Suriya  (Syria)  and  of  the  mushir  (general 
in  command)  of  the  Fifth  Army  Corps,  who  has  a  gar¬ 
rison  of  about  5,000  men  under  his  command.  Munic¬ 
ipal  affairs  are  managed  by  a  town  council  elected  by 


q8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

the  people,  which  includes  several  Orthodox  Greek 
Christians  and  Jews,  but  the  system  of  assessment  and 
the  collection  of  taxes  is  atrocious  and  extortionate, 
amounting  to  legalized  robbery.  Moslems  suffer  very 
little  in  that  respect,  but  the  Christians  and  Jews  are 
the  victims  of  all  forms  of  official  corruption  and 
blackmail.  The  different  trades,  both  mercantile  and 
artisan,  are  organized  into  guilds  and  occupy  certain 
sections  of  the  bazaars.  The  guilds  are  managed  very 
much  like  trade  unions  in  the  United  States,  and  it  is 
difficult  for  a  newcomer  to  obtain  work  or  to  engage  in 
business  unless  he  belongs  to  one  of  them.  It  is 
impossible  for  him  to  follow  his  trade  or  continue  in 
business  unless  he  obeys  all  their  regulations  and 
observes  their  time-honored  customs.  The  hack  driv¬ 
ers,  the  porters  at  the  railway  stations,  and  even  the 
beggars,  have  a  guild. 

There  are  no  public  buildings  in  Damascus.  The 
governor  lives  in  the  suburbs  and  for  business  pur¬ 
poses  occupies  a  part  of  a  small  and  uninviting-looking 
structure  belonging  to  the  municipality.  There  used 
to  bean  old  citadel,  erected  in  the  Middle  Ages,  with  a 
palace  and  a  harem  attached,  but  it  was  torn  away 
some  years  ago  and  a  new  palace  is  to  be  erected  in  its 
place.  Some  of  the  foundations  are  laid  and  there  is 
a  good  deal  of  cut  stone  on  the  ground,  but  construc¬ 
tion  does  not  seem  to  advance.  It  is  said  that  the 
money  is  lacking,  which  is  probably  true.  There  is  no 
money  in  Turkey  for  public  purposes  and  private  indi¬ 
viduals  who  have  funds  have  found  by  experience  that 
it  is  not  expedient  to  display  them  for  fear  of  exciting 
the  cupidity  of  tax  collectors  and  other  officials.  No 
man  dare  invest  much  capital  in  any  line  of  business. 
When  Kaiser  William  was  here  in  1898,  and  his  visit 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


99 


marks  the  most  important  epoch  in  Syrian  history  in 
modern  times,  he  was  lodged  in  an  old  private  resi¬ 
dence,  which,  by  the  sultan's  orders,  was  fitted  up  for 
his  accommodation.  The  sultan  did  not  accompany 
him.  When  I  asked  our  guide  the  reason  for  his 
absence  he  replied:  “Sultan  can’t  come.  If  sultan 
leave  Constantinople  they  would  change  him.’’  And 
when  I  asked  another  person  why  his  imperial  majesty 
never  visited  Damascus,  he  looked  up  with  some  sur¬ 
prise  at  my  ignorance  and  remarked  laconically:  “He 
would  lose  his  place.” 

There  are  numerous  old  barracks  in  various  parts  of 
the  city  and  several  fine  new  structures  of  enormous 
size  of  stone  painted  yellow  recently  erected.  They 
are  the  only  modern  improvements  that  the  old  town 
boasts.  I  have  noticed  everywhere  in  Turkey  that 
fortifications  and  military  barracks  are  the  only  objects 
upon  which  the  government  spends  money. 

In  the  suburbs,  out  on  a  hill  where  Mohammed  is 
said  to  have  gazed  over  the  city,  is  a  group  of  mud 
dwellings  lately  built.  They  contain  a  colony  of 
Mohammedans  from  Crete,  who  moved  away  from 
that  island  after  it  was  given  back  to  Greece,  because 
they  would  not  live  under  a  Christian  government. 
The  sultan  invited  them  to  Syria,  built  the  houses  they 
occupy  and  gave  them  lands  from  the  public  domain 
on  the  borders  of  the  desert,  which  they  are  now  pre¬ 
paring  to  occupy  and  till.  It  is  quite  a  singular  inci¬ 
dent  that  any  persons  should  refuse  to  live  under 
Christian  authority.  I  believe  that  there  is  no  pre¬ 
cedent.  They  are  said  to  be  industrious  and  intel¬ 
ligent  people,  but  very  fanatical  in  their  religious 
belief.  A  group  of  the  women  and  children  of  the 
settlement  gathered  around  and  watched  us  curiously 


100  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


as  we  were  enjoying  the  view  of  the  city,  but  the 
women  kept  their  faces  closely  covered,  and  the  chil¬ 
dren  did  not  ask  for  baksheesh,  as  is  the  practice  in 
Damascus  and  other  Turkish  cities.  That  alone  was 
enough  to  stamp  them  as  strangers. 

Rev.  Dr.  Jessup,  who  has  lived  in  Syria  for  half  a 
century  and  is  recognized  as  an  authority  upon  all  sub¬ 
jects,  says  that  while  the  present  houses  of  Damascus 
may  not  have  been  standing  in  the  days  of  Abraham 
or  even  at  the  time  of  Paul,  they  are  undoubted  coun¬ 
terparts  of  the  houses  which  occupied  their  sites  at 
those  periods.  None  other  of  the  ancient  cities  of  the 
East  have  preserved  their  individuality  like  Damas¬ 
cus,  and  not  only  have  the  manners  and  customs  of 
ancient  times  been  retained,  but  many  of  its  present 
inhabitants  are  the  descendants  of  the  people  who  have 
lived  and  done  business  there  from  the  earliest  ages, 
and  dwell  in  the  same  locations  that  have  been  occu¬ 
pied  by  their  families  century  after  century. 

It  is  asserted  that  the  leading  families  of  Damascus, 
who  are  descendants  of  Ishmael,  can  trace  their  line¬ 
age  back  farther  than  the  representatives  of  any  race 
except  the  Jews;  and  that  in  the  bazaars  of  this  old  city 
may  be  found  Hebrews  whose  pedigrees  run  back  for 
thousands  of  years.  They  wear  to  day  the  style  of 
costumes,  made  of  the  same  materials,  as  were  worn 
by  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob.  Nowhere  else  in  Pales¬ 
tine  have  the  Jews  retained  such  an  unbroken  line  of 
descent  and  uninterrupted  occupation.  They  are  the 
Hebrews  of  the  Hebrews,  and  have  adhered  with  great 
tenacity  to  the  customs  as  well  as  the  costumes  of  their 
forefathers  of  the  Biblical  age.  Memphis,  Palmyra, 
Nineveh,  Baalbek  and  even  Antioch  have  fallen,  and 
the  people  who  abode  therein  have  disappeared  into 


MOHAMMEDAN  CEMETERY.  DAMASCUS. 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  iqi 


oblivion  or  become  extinct,  but  Damascus,  unlike  her 
rivals,  has  maintained  the  even  tenor  of  her  way, 
regardless  of  siege  and  sacking,  of  revolution  and 
invasion,  and  is  to-day,  in  most  respects,  the  best  liv¬ 
ing  illustration  of  the  scenes  described  in  the  Old  Tes¬ 
tament  that  can  be  found  in  any  part  of  the  East. 
There  are  said  also  to  be  types  of  a  larger  number  of 
Eastern  races  than  can  be  found  in  any  city  except 
Constantinople  —  Turks,  Jews,  Arabs,  Assyrians, 
Greeks,  Armenians,  Egyptians  and  representatives  of 
all  the  tribes  of  the  desert,  of  all  the  various  clans 
which  occupied  the  country  at  the  time  of  the  Israel- 
itish  invasion,  from  the  Kurds  of  the  North  to  the 
Abyssinians  of  the  South. 

Although  the  exterior  appearance  of  Damascus  is 
uninviting,  there  are  some  very  fine  houses,  from  an 
Oriental  point  of  view,  and  they  are  famous  for  the 
luxurious  style  in  which  they  are  fitted  up.  Through 
introductions  from  the  American  consul  we  had  the 
privilege  of  inspecting  three  of  the  most  beautiful  resi¬ 
dences,  all  of  which  were  erected  200  or  300  years  ago 
and  are  of  the  very  highest  type  of  Saracenic  architec¬ 
ture.  Two  of  the  houses  belong  to  Mohammedans, 
one  a  pasha  and  the  other  a  merchant,  and  the  third 
was  the  home  of  a  wealthy  Jew  whose  ancestors  had 
lived  there  for  several  generations.  The  exterior  walls 
are  of  rough  mud  without  windows,  and  resemble  the 
ordinary  wall  that  protects  gardens  in  the  country. 
The  entrance  is  through  unpretending  doors  which 
open  into  a  narrow  vestibule  with  a  porter’s  lodge 
adjoining,  and  without  the  knowledge  and  consent  of 
the  porter  no  one  can  obtain  admission  or  leave  the 
house.  A  second  door  from  the  vestibule  opens  upon 
a  beautiful  court.  In  some  of  the  houses  it  was  at 


102  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


least  sixty  feet  square,  and  in  none  of  them  less  than 
thirty.  The  court  is  paved  with  slabs  of  black  and 
white  marble,  with  borders  of  tessellated  work  in  pretty 
patterns  of  Arabic  figures.  In  the  middle  is  a  foun¬ 
tain  of  carved  marble,  octagonal  in  shape  and  profusely 
ornamented.  The  walls  rise  two  or  three  feet  above 
the  pavement;  the  water  plays  with  considerable  force, 
and  fish  of  all  kinds  are  swimming  about  in  the  basin. 
Around  it  flowers  and  plants  in  pots  are  arranged,  and 
each  of  the  courts  contains  several  orange,  lemon  and 
other  fruit  trees,  with  rose  bushes,  jessamine  and  other 
vines. 

On  the  sunny  side  of  the  court,  and  facing  the  foun¬ 
tain,  is  a  large  recess,  with  divans  around  the  three 
walls,  with  narghiles,  cigarettes  and  other  smoking 
apparatus  upon  a  center  table.  The  divans  are  uphol¬ 
stered  in  Damascus  silks  and  above  a  wainscoting  of 
beautiful  blue  Persian  tiles  the  walls  and  ceiling  are 
covered  with  gilded  moldings  in  stucco  of  very  elab¬ 
orate  design.  This  recess  is  used  for  a  reception-room 
and  occupied  by  the  family  as  a  sitting-room  during 
the  hot  weather.  The  “company-rooms”  open  off 
from  it  through  large  doors,  one  on  either  side,  and 
are  fitted  up  in  the  same  style  and  decorated  in  a  simi¬ 
lar  manner.  The  ceilings  are  frescoed  with  bright 
Oriental  colors,  glaring  yellows  and  purples,  Pompeiian 
reds  and  pinks,  blues,  greens  of  barbaric  brightness; 
or  are  formed  of  slender  trunks  of  poplar  trees,  pol¬ 
ished  or  painted  in  bright  colors  or  gilded.  The  walls 
of  the  two  “company-rooms”  are  covered  with  mir¬ 
rors  and  gold  stucco  work.  In  one  of  the  houses  we 
visited  the  walls  of  the  drawing-room  were  veneered 
with  little  bits  of  mirrors  of  irregular  shape,  set  into 
cement,  and  the  spaces  between  them  are  gilded. 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


103 


Panels  of  tortoise  shell,  mother-of-pearl  and  even  sil¬ 
ver  are  not  uncommon,  and  the  brilliancy  of  the  effect 
is  heightened  by  edgings  and  tracery  of  red.  The 
upholstery  is  of  silk  of  brilliant  colors,  and  wide 
divans,  upon  which  the  host  and  the  guests  sat  without 
shoes,  with  their  legs  crossed,  sipping  their  coffee  and 
eating  sweetmeats  and  gossiping,  were  covered  with 
Persian  rugs  of  silk  such  as  would  bring  thousands  of 
dollars  in  the  New  York  or  Chicago  market.  The 
whole  effect  is  one  of  exceeding  brilliancy,  although 
not  entirely  to  our  modern  taste.  It  seemed  strange 
and  incongruous  to  find  “Crown  Jewel”  and  “Colum¬ 
bian”  base  burning  coal  stoves  of  American  manufac¬ 
ture  in  these  gorgeous  apartments.  The  dining-rooms 
are  similar  in  size  and  style,  complications  of  elab¬ 
orate  decoration,  costly  materials  and  Oriental  magnifi¬ 
cence,  and  the  owners  took  great  pride  in  exhibiting 
them.  The  apartments  for  the  use  of  the  family  and 
for  domestic  purposes,  the  bed-rooms,  kitchens,  baths 
and  so  forth  are  equally  handsome,  and  beautiful 
gardens  are  attached  to  two  of  the  houses,  which  no 
one  would  have  suspected  from  the  outside.  We  saw 
no  books  or  pianos  or  other  musical  instruments, 
except  in  the  Jewish  home,  where  there  seemed  to  be 
evidences  of  modern  taste  and  accomplishments. 

At  the  Mohammedan  houses  we  were  detained  in  the 
vestibule  until  the  ladies  of  the  family  had  retired  to 
the  harem  upon  the  second  floor,  but  in  the  Jewish 
house  we  were  cordially  welcomed  by  the  wife,  mother, 
daughter  and  sister  of  our  host,  who  seemed  to  take 
great  interest  in  showing  us  around  and  explaining  the 
mysteries  of  a  Damascus  mansion. 

Next  to  the  Druses  the  Kurds  are  said  to  be  the  most 
enterprising  people  in  Damascus.  Saladin,  the  great- 


104  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


est  of  sultans,  the  greatest  of  Saracen  warriors,  who 
stands  next  to  Mohammed  in  the  veneration  of  the 
people,  was  a  Kurd. 

In  the  center  of  Damascus  is  a  large  open  square 
used  as  a  general  public  market  and  a  place  of  assem¬ 
bly  for  all  classes  of  citizens.  There  is  a  monument  in 
the  center,  with  a  large  fountain.  Carriages  and  sad¬ 
dle  horses,  carts,  camels  and  donkeys  are  standing 
near  by  for  hire,  and  around  the  edge  of  the  square  are 
stands  of  itinerant  traders,  whose  wares  are  spread 
out  before  them  on  the  ground  in  the  most  inviting 
manner  possible.  Back  of  them  are  professional  letter 
writers,  who  may  also  be  found  in  the  courtyards  of 
the  mosques  and  other  places  where  people  are  accus¬ 
tomed  to  congregate.  Each  has  a  desk  under  a  rude 
awning  of  straw  matting  or  canvas  or  in  the  shadow  of 
the  wall.  He  sits  cross-legged,  with  an  inkhorn  in  his 
girdle  and  a  bunch  of  reeds  or  wooden  pens  before 
him.  He  writes  letters  for  all  sorts  of  customers, 
draws  contracts,  prepares  affidavits  and  papers  and 
records  of  various  kinds.  His  services  are  necessary 
because  so  few  of  the  people  can  write  and  only  a 
small  proportion  of  them  are  able  to  sign  their  names. 
H  ence  the  professional  letter  writer,  like  lawyers  in 
the  United  States,  has  regular  customers,  who  by 
necessity  intrust  him  with  the  secrets  of  their  business, 
and  he  is  a  father  confessor  to  many  Moslem  women 
also,,  who  come  to  him  with  their  confidences  and 
through  him  send  messages  of  love  or  hate. 

Oriental  letters  are  always  expressed  in  the  most 
courteous  and  ceremonious  language.  The  letter 
writer  who  has  the  best  command  of  terms  of  compli¬ 
ment  is  the  most  popular,  like  the  lawyer  who  draws 
the  best  contract  or  makes  the  best  impression  before 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  105 

a  jury.  Every  letter  must  be  sealed  and  everybody 
has  a  seal,  whether  he  is  able  to  write  or  not.  He 
has  his  name  engraved  upon  a  signet  ring  or  a  pen¬ 
dant  on  his  watch,  or  attached  to  his  purse,  because 
Oriental  etiquette  requires  the  impression  of  a  seal 
upon  every  paper  as  evidence  of  its  authenticity.  An 
ordinary  Moslem,  even  a  workingman,  would  not 
recognize  as  genuine  or  pay  any  attention  to  a  written 
communication  that  did  not  bear  a  seal.  It  is  even 
more  essential  than  the  signature.  Hence  there  are 
sealmakers  wherever  professional  letter  writers  are 
found. 

The  River  Abana  comes  into  the  city  with  a  roar 
and  a  dash  and  is  conducted  through  heavy  retain¬ 
ing  walls  to  the  public  square  I  have  told  you  about. 
But  when  it  reaches  that  place  it  disappears.  Its 
waters  pass  into  pipes  which  distribute  them  to  various 
parts  of  the  city  to  feed  the  fountains  and  the  baths. 
After  refreshing  the  inhabitants  the  Abana  emerges 
at  a  hundred  different  points  and  flows  off  through  the 
irrigating  ditches  to  moisten  the  soil  and  refresh  the 
fields.  It  is  a  curious  way  to  dispose  of  a  river,  but 
very  ingenious  and  equally  useful.  Not  a  drop  of 
water  is  wasted. 

The  bazaars  of  Damascus  are  the  pride  of  the  Arab 
world  and  the  delight  of  strangers.  To  American 
and  English  tourists  they  are  so  attractive  that  the 
guides  leave  them  to  be  visited  last,  because  when  a 
woman  once  goes  there  she  becomes  so  fascinated  that 
she  is  eager  to  go  again  and  cannot  be  tempted  away 
to  mosques,  museums,  cemeteries  or  other  places  of 
interest.  Nowhere  in  all  the  East  are  Oriental  life  and 
Oriental  customs  displayed  so  accurately  and  in  such 
an  interesting  manner,  and  the  bazaars  seem  almost 


io6  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


limitless  in  extent.  They  are  all  situated  in  the  same 
section  of  the  city,  and  one  is  entered  from  another. 
In  fact,  they  are  practically  one  and  consist  of  several 
miles  of  narrow  streets,  covered  over  with  arched, 
dome-like  roofing,  the  ancient  ones  of  masonry  and  the 
modern  ones  of  corrugated  iron,  lined  on  either  side  by 
little  shops,  ten  or  twelve  feet  square,  filled  with  assort¬ 
ments  of  merchandise  from  all  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
The  merchants  squat  cross-legged  on  the  floors  of  their 
booths,  which  are  raised  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  above 
the  roadway,  and  you  can  distinguish  between  the  races 
by  their  demeanor.  The  Mohammedan  merchant  never 
solicits  trade.  He  preserves  a  dignified  reticence, 
and,  while  he  is  always  courteous  and  willing  to  show 
his  goods,  he  does  so  with  a  quiet  indifference  which 
is  often  tantalizing  and  seems  to  be  expressive  of  a 
contempt  for  the  infidels  who  intrude  with  so  much 
bustle  and  confusion  upon  his  composure.  He  strokes 
his  beard,  reclines  against  a  cushion  and  plays  with 
his  beads  or  smokes  his  narghile  while  you  examine 
his  wares.  You  will  find  him  quite  as  sharp  at  a  bar¬ 
gain,  but,  strange  to  say,  every  foreigner  who  lives  in 
Damascus  testifies  that  he  is  more  honorable  in  his 
dealings  and  more  accurate  in  his  statements  than 
either  the  Jews  or  the  Christians,  although  his  religion 
teaches  him  that  it  is  no  sin  to  cheat  an  unbeliever. 
The  same  seems  to  be  true  everywhere  throughout  the 
Mohammedan  world.  The  testimony  is  almost  unani¬ 
mous  that  the  representations  of  a  Mohammedan  mer¬ 
chant  are  usually  to  be  relied  upon,  while  those  of  the 
Christians  and  Hebrews  are  not. 

The  Jews,  Greeks,  Armenians  and  other  merchants 
rush  after  customers  with  an  eagerness  that  is  very 
annoying.  Americans  are  supposed  to  be  made  of 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  107 


money,  and  the  occupants  of  the  bazaars  cannot  be 
blamed  for  wanting  to  get  as  much  of  it  as  possible. 
Our  people  spend  altogether  too  freely,  and  pay  exor¬ 
bitant  prices,  which  the  dealers  would  not  think  of 
asking  of  Germans  or  Frenchmen  or  their  own  people. 
Hence  their  anxiety  to  get  an  American  into  their 
shops,  and  the  enticements  they  offer  are  often  amu¬ 
sing.  Dealers  in  curios,  embroideries,  old  silver  and 
that  sort  of  thing  watch  the  railway  station  and  the 
hotels,  and  know  when  an  American  arrives  in  town. 
They  call  upon  him  at  the  hotel  and  stop  him  in  the 
street,  offering  their  cards,  soliciting  his  patronage  and 
endeavoring  to  induce  him  to  make  an  appointment. 
They  will  bring  goods  to  the  hotel  or  will  come  with 
carriages  to  conduct  a  stranger  to  their  shops.  When  a 
party  of  tourists  enter  the  bazaars  they  are  besieged  on 
all  sides  by  dealers  clamoring  for  their  attention  and 
entreating  them  to  visit  the  places  they  recommend. 
Many  of  the  merchants  can  speak  English.  The  num¬ 
ber  is  quite  remarkable.  Many  have  lived  in  the 
United  States,  and  are  familiar  enough  with  that 
country  to  discuss  different  places  with  intelligence. 
If  they  find  out  that  you  are  from  Chicago,  they  will 
tell  you  that  they  used  to  live  there,  or  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  or  Boston,  as  the  case  may 
be.  They  invariably  have  lived  at  the  place  you  come 
from,  hoping  in  that  way  to  excite  a  benevolent  inter¬ 
est.  The  bazaars  are  well  classified.  Dealers  in  the 
same  sort  of  goods  occupy  the  same  sections,  so  that 
trading  is  more  convenient  than  it  would  be  if  they 
were  scattered.  The  buildings  are  generally  owned 
by  the  government  or  the  municipality,  and  have  been 
erected  from  time  to  time  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
trade.  Rents  are  low,  and  the  tenants  are  looked 


io8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


after  by  stewards  who  have  an  organization  that  is 
complete  and  effective,  and  subject  more  or  less  to  the 
control  of  the  guilds  as  well  as  the  government.  The 
bazaars  are  thoroughly  cosmopolitan,  however,  and 
are  crowded  with  the  representatives  of  every  race  and 
nation  from  Nubia  and  Abyssinia  to  Bokhara  and 
Afghanistan.  There  is  a  perpetual  banquet  of  color, 
for  the  costumes  vary  as  much  as  the  faces.  The 
artistic  effect  is  somewhat  impaired  at  times  by  find¬ 
ing  cheap  Paris  jewelry,  Manchester  prints,  Waterbury 
clocks  and  German  merchandise  of  every  variety,  and 
wise  people  will  tell  you  that  a  large  part  of  the 
so-called  Oriental  wares,  the  embroideries,  brass  work, 
harness,  jewelry,  old  silver,  scimeters  and  other  arms 
which  are  sold  as  souvenirs  of  the  country  are  imported 
from  Europe. 

In  the  goldsmith’s  bazaar,  however,  there  is  no 
deception,  and  the  jewelers  sitting  upon  their  little 
platforms  will  manufacture  a  bracelet  or  a  pair  of  ear¬ 
rings  in  gold  fiiligree  work,  or  make  any  other  article 
that  you  may  desire,  and  from  any  design,  while  you 
wait.  If  you  will  furnish  the  pattern  or  even  a  rude 
sketch  your  order  will  be  filled  with  marvelous  rapidity, 
although  the  work  is  roughly  done.  Everything  is 
sold  by  weight,  with  the  cost  of  the  labor  added.  One 
often  picks  up  rare  gems  at  the  goldsmith’s  bazaar, 
which  to  me  is  the  most  fascinating  of  all  and  more 
mysterious,  for  each  dealer  has  a  little  safe  filled  with 
tin  cases  in  which  the  rarest  of  precious  stones  and 
surprising  examples  of  the  art  of  the  ancient  gold¬ 
smiths  are  often  locked  away.  The  bazaar  of  the 
booksellers  is  still  a  place  of  interest,  and  occasionally 
one  may  find  a  valuable  volume  or  piece  of  manu¬ 
script;  but  the  agents  of  European  museums  and  rich 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


109 


collectors  have  been  here  so  often  and  have  offered 
such  great  temptations  that  the  town  and  the  country 
roundabout  has  been  pretty  well  searched. 

The  “Street  of  the  Greeks”  is  the  most  attractive 
place  for  ladies,  because  they  find  there  the  curios 
which  are  so  popular  for  decorative  purposes  at  home, 
and  unless  you  have  more  than  the  ordinary  degree  of 
moral  courage  and  unusual  powers  of  resistance  you 
are  certain  to  buy  many  things  that  you  do  not  want 
before  you  leave  the  place.  Here  are  all  sorts  of  Ori¬ 
ental  articles,  most  of  them  of  gaudy  colors  and  cheap 
materials  and  poor  workmanship,  and  seldom  worth 
half  the  price  that  is  paid  for  them — weapons,  table 
covers,  embroideries,  carpets,  rugs,  pipes,  clothing, 
armor,  tobacco  pouches,  silks,  and  everything  you  can 
think  of.  Coins  and  gems,  Oriental  coffee  cups,  pipe¬ 
stems  made  of  the  wood  of  the  cork  tree,  wound  with 
gold  and  silver  thread,  all  kinds  of  antiquities  and 
fabrics  of  Oriental  manufacture  are  offered  for  about 
four  times  their  value  to  begin  with,  according  to  the 
Eastern  custom,  merely  as  a  basis  for  negotiation.  The 
weapons  are  generally  modern,  and  most  of  them  are 
made  in  Germany;  the  Oriental  coffee  cups  and  tiles 
come  from  Austria;  the  glittering  jewelry  which  the 
shopkeeper  will  offer  to  guarantee  as  the  genuine 
product  of  the  Bedouins  is  made  in  Paris,  while  the 
fezzes  usually  come  from  Marseilles. 

The  second-hand  shops  occupy  a  section  of  the 
bazaar  known  as  Suk  el  Kumeleh,  which  literally 
means  “louse  market,”  and  if  fleas  are  included  in  the 
designation  it  is  very  properly  applied.  Brisk  deal¬ 
ing  is  the  practice  there,  and  the  dealers  have  a  curious 
custom  of  running  from  one  shop  to  another  with  an 
article  asking  for  bids.  One  speculator  will  bid  5 


HO  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


piasters,  while  the  auctioneer  rushes  on  to  the  next 
until  he  has  encompassed  the  entire  bazaar.  In  the 
meantime  he  keeps  the  figures  in  his  mind,  and  after 
all  the  proprietors  of  the  slop-shops  have  had  an 
opportunity  to  examine  the  goods  and  make  an  offer 
he  delivers  the  prize  to  the  highest  bidder. 

At  the  Kahn  As’ ad  Pasha,  so-called  because  it  was 
built  by  a  governor  of  Damascus  of  that  name,  is  the 
horse  and  saddle  market.  Twice  a  week,  in  an  open 
court,  horses  collected  from  the  desert  in  a  semi-wild 
state  and  with  a  shaggy  and  uncouth  appearance, 
although  they  are  represented  to  be  of  famous  Arabian 
breeds,  are  offered  to  the  highest  bidder.  Sometimes 
300  or  400  animals  will  be  sold  in  a  morning  for  nomi¬ 
nal  prices,  the  business  being  conducted  very  much 
as  at  Tattersalls  in  London.  Adjoining  the  horse 
market  are  the  shops  for  the  sale  of  harnesses,  saddle¬ 
bags,  saddlery  and  other  equestrian  fittings,  and  many 
of  them  are  attractive  because  of  their  bright  colors, 
gold  embroidery  and  silver  and  brass  mountings. 
Turkish  saddles  are  characteristic  and  unique,  but  are 
not  so  handsome  as  those  of  Mexico. 

The  coppersmith’s  street  is  a  noisy  place  where 
hundreds  of  skillful  artisans,  including  many  children, 
are  working  constantly  upon  those  brass  and  copper 
trays,  bowls  and  dishes  which  you  see  offered  in  the 
Oriental  stores  at  home.  The  Dasmascenes  have 
always  been  famous  for  fine  brass  work,  and  brass 
dishes  are  generally  used  by  the  natives  throughout 
the  country,  in  place  of  porcelain,  particularly  by  the 
Bedouins  and  the  peasantry. 

A  section  of  the  bazaar  is  devoted  to  the  sale  of 
pipes  and  other  smoking  paraphernalia,  at  which  may 
be  obtained  almost  anything  that  was  ever  invented 


\ 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


in 


for  a  smoker’s  use.  Among  other  unique  articles 
cocoanut  pipes  mounted  with  gold  and  silver  are  very 
curious. 

At  the  draper’s  bazaar  will  be  found  many  women 
with  their  faces  closely  veiled  waddling  from  shop  to 
shop  examining  goods  from  curiosity  without  any 
intention  of  buying,  and  they  must  be  treated  with  the 
greatest  respect  and  courtesy  to  avoid  a  row,  because 
a  veiled  woman  is  under  the  protection  of  the  public 
and  any  person  who  interferes  with  her  privacy  or 
attempts  to  penetrate  her  disguise  is  sure  to  be  cruelly 
handled. 

The  leather  shops,  the  boot  and  shoe  stores  and  the 
shops  of  the  furriers  are  not  so  well  filled  at  this  season 
as  in  the  winter  time,  when  they  become  the  centers  of 
attraction  instead  of  the  silk  and  linen  dealers.  At 
the  cloth  bazaar  may  be  purchased  different  Oriental 
costumes,  made  up  especially  to  meet  the  foreign 
demand.  Bedouin  outfits  are  especially  popular,  and 
one  can  buy  a  full  suit,  including  gun,  side  arms,  sad¬ 
dle  and  bridle  for  $25  to  $30,  according  to  the  amount 
of  ornamentation.  The  wholesale  markets  are  not  so 
interesting  for  the  general  public,  but  the  methods  of 
doing  business  are  worth  studying,  and  the  strange 
Oriental  scenes  that  are  constantly  occurring  fascinate 
the  visitor.  Numerous  courts  in  the  bazaars  are 
devoted  to  the  wholesale  trade  and  the  stock  is  within 
convenient  reach.  The  dealers  usually  sleep  upon 
their  counters  during  the  busy  season  so  as  to  be  on 
hand  to  buy  goods  immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  a 
caravan  before  their  competitors  shall  get  a  chance  at 
them.  There  are  seven  or  eight  of  these  big  courts 
situated  in  different  parts  of  the  bazaars  to  which  cara¬ 
vans  of  camels  are  always  moving,  led  by  a  donkey. 


1 12  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


It  must  be  humiliating  for  a  camel  to  be  compelled  to 
follow  a  donkey  wherever  it  goes,  but  I  have  known  a 
multitude  of  men  and  women  doing  the  same  thing, 
and  doing  it  voluntarily. 

Everywhere  you  will  see  amulets  against  the  evil 
eye.  A  chain  of  blue  beads  encircles  the  neck  of 
every  horse,  donkey  or  camel,  for  those  animals  are 
peculiarly  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  the  evil  eye. 
Men  and  women  wear  upon  their  breasts  little  lockets 
of  silver  which  contain  printed  or  written  prayers  to 
Mohammed,  invoking  his  protection  from  that  source 
of  danger.  All  Syrians,  and  Arabs  especially,  are  very 
superstitious,  but  no  more  so  than  the  Spaniards  or 
the  Italians. 

You  frequently  see  grown  men  wandering  about  the 
streets  and  bazaars  holding  each  other’s  hands  like 

little  children.  It  is  a  sign  of  affection.  Men  kiss 

. 

each  other  when  they  meet,  just  as  Judas  kissed  the 
Saviour  when  he  betrayed  him.  They  do  not  embrace 
as  the  Spaniards  and  Italians  do,  but  kiss  each  other 
upon  the  cheek  or  lips  like  women. 

The  Arab  is  always  careful  about  tying  up  his  head, 
but  goes  with  his  legs  and  feet  bare  in  the  coldest  kind 
of  weather.  In  that  he  resembles  the  Bolivians  and 
other  inhabitants  of  the  Andes. 

Damascus  is  famous  for  its  coffee  shops,  which  are 
the  center  of  life  and  gossip  and  the  habitual  resort  of 
all  classes  of  people.  There  one  can  always  find  inter¬ 
esting  and  attractive  scenes.  The  Turks  seem  to  enjoy 
them  and  take  plenty  of  time  to  do  so.  All  day  long 
they  sit  in  their  calico  gowns  and  turbans  playing 
dominoes,  checkers  and  chess,  and  sometimes  cards. 
The  progressive  young  Damascenes  have  adopted  the 
European  dress,  but  their  fathers  still  stick  to  the 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW 


1 13 

ancient  costume,  and  the  coffee-house  is  almost  their 
only  diversion. 

A  daily  newspaper  is  supposed  to  be  published  in 
Damascus,  but  it  appears  only  semi-occasionally  and 
has  not  been  issued  for  three  days.  The  only  explana¬ 
tion  I  can  get  is  that  it  has  been  suppressed  by  the 
censor.  Therefore  people  are  compelled  to  go  to  the 
coffee  houses  for  news  and  gossip.  No  strong  drinks 
are  served;  no  wine  or  beer,  but  an  immense  amount 
of  coffee  and  sherbet  and  lemonade  are  consumed. 
Damascus  claims  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  both 
those  refreshing  drinks.  The  juice  of  the  lemon 
mingled  with  that  of  the  sugar  cane,  or  the  pomegran¬ 
ate,  which  is  equally  sweet,  and  cooled  with  the  snows 
of  Lebanon  is  said  to  have  been  the  popular  beverage 
at  the  time  of  Abraham.  While  many  of  the  Damas¬ 
cenes  play  games  at  the  coffee  houses,  many  solemn 
old  Moslems  sit  cross-legged,  seemingly  absorbed  in 
contemplation,  smoking  their  narghile,  sipping  their 
coffee  or  cooling  drinks,  but  never  say  a  word  hour 
after  hour.  But  what  they  are  thinking  about  nobody 
knows. 

There  is  a  theater  on  the  principal  square  of  Damas¬ 
cus,  a  dingy,  dilapidated,  unattractive  place,  with 
decrepit  benches  for  the  spectators  and  a  kitchen  in 
one  corner  at  which  all  sorts  of  ill-smelling  food  is 
cooked  and  served  to  the  patrons  as  they  watch  the 
performance  upon  the  stage.  It  is  a  vaudeville  pro¬ 
gramme — juggling,  tumbling,  fencing  and  other 
athletic  and  acrobatic  performances,  interspersed  with 
recitations  and  vocal  and  instrumental  music.  The 
programme  begins  about  nine  o’clock  in  the  evening 
and  continues  until  after  midnight,  and  two  or  three 
hundred  spectators  pay  ten  cents  in  our  money  for  the 


1 14  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


privilege  of  entering  the  rusty  old  shanty,  occupying 
the  broken-down  settees  and  inhaling  the  poisonous 
atmosphere  for  that  period.  Coffee,  sherbet,  lemon¬ 
ade  and  licorice  water  is  peddled  to  the  audience,  but 
no  strong  drinks,  and  smoking  is  continuous  until  the 
air  is  so  thick  that  you  can  cut  it  with  a  knife.  The 
music  is  excruciating.  The  singing  resembles  that  of 
the  North  American  Indians,  being  a  sort  of  chant  and 
wail  combined.  When  an  Arab  or  a  Turk  makes  a 
noise  that  suggests  a  painful  attack  of  the  colic  he  is 
singing  a  love  song.  When  he  appears  to  be  crying 
out  in  pain  for  a  crushed  foot  or  finger  he  is  chanting 
a  Moslem  hymn,  and  the  monotony  is  simply  intoler¬ 
able.  The  Orientals  know  nothing  of  harmony,  but  are 
very  emotional  and  can  be  wrought  up  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  ecstacy  by  a  series  of  sounds  that  remind  you 
of  a  lonesome  cat  upon  the  back  fence.  The  instru¬ 
mental  music  is  no  better.  It  is  similar  to  that  of  the 
Chinese,  entirely  without  melody  or  harmony,  a  con¬ 
tinuous  thumping  upon  a  single  string  or  a  drumhead. 
The  only  parts  of  the  theatrical  performance  that  are 
at  all  entertaining  to  a  foreigner  are  the  athletic  exer¬ 
cises  and  the  recitations.  Some  of  them  are  quite 
novel  and  inspiring. 

The  Damascus  postoffice  occupies  a  small,  unpreten¬ 
tious  room  upon  the  street  which  is  called  Straight, 
and  I  am  sure  that  no  other  city  in  the  world  of  similar 
population  gets  along  with  so  little  mail.  The  250,000 
or  300,000  inhabitants  are  served  with  one  mail  a  day, 
and  it  is  carried  in  a  bag  that  would  be  too  small  for 
the  letters  received  daily  at  any  village  of  500  inhabit¬ 
ants  in  the  United  States.  It  should  be  said,  however, 
that  foreigners  do  not  use  the  Turkish  mails.  The 
Austrian  government  maintains  a  separate  service  for 


THE  OLDEST  CITY  WE  KNOW  115 

their  accommodation  and  does  a  much  larger  business, 
because  it  is  safe.  When  a  letter  is  intrusted  to  the 
Turkish  postal  authorities  there  is  no  certainty  that  it 
will  ever  reach  its  destination,  and  packages  seldom 
do.  Missionaries  and  other  foreigners  have  had  the 
same  experience.  Every  package  that  comes  through 
the  mails  is  broken  open,  and  if  its  contents  are  of  any 
value,  or  of  any  use  to  the  postoffice  officials,  it  is  con¬ 
fiscated.  If  they  are  not,  it  is  likely  to  be  thrown 
carelessly  to  one  side  and  never  delivered.  Christmas 
boxes  never  come  intact.  They  are  always  tampered 
with  and  are  no  safer  when  sent  by  express.  Cook’s 
agent  at  Constantinople  would  not  take  our  luggage, 
when  we  wanted  to  ship  the  larger  packages  through 
to  Cairo,  because  he  said  that  he  could  not  guarantee 
its  safe  arrival.  No  matter  how  securely  it  was 
locked  and  sealed  it  was  sure  to  be  tampered  with. 

The  police  do  not  pay  much  attention  to  the  Turk¬ 
ish  postoffice,  because  they  know  it  would  be  a  waste 
of  time.  Conspirators  never  trust  the  mails. 

When  the  mail  arrives  at  Damascus,  people  who  are 
expecting  letters  gather  around  the  postoffice,  and  the 
postmaster  comes  out  and  calls  off  the  names  of  those 
who  have  been  gratified.  The  people  for  whom  letters 
are  inteflded  step  forward  and  claim  them,  but  all 
strangers  have  to  be  identified. 


V 

The  Mohammedan  at  Home 


«7 


< 


* 


V 


\ 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME 

Damascus,  next  to  Constantinople,  is  the  most 
important  city  of  Islam,  and  is  said  to  be  the  best 
place  to  study  that  religion  which  is  the  dominant 
faith  of  nearly  one-eighth  of  the  human  race.  There 
are  248  mosques  and  colleges  for  the  education  of 
priests  in  Damascus.  Of  these,  seventy-one  are  large 
mosques,  in  which  service  is  practically  continuous, 
and  sermons  are  preached  on  Fridays,  and  177  are 
chapels  for  prayers.  Probably  one  hundred  of  the  lat¬ 
ter  originally  had  schools  connected  with  them,  but 
they  have  long  since  been  closed.  Education  once 
flourished  in  Damascus.  The  city  was  a  great  resort 
for  scholars;  its  schools  of  theology,  philosophy,  juris¬ 
prudence  and  logic  were  famous,  and  were  attended  by 
students  from  all  parts  of  the  Moslem  world.  Some  of 
the  mosques  yet  contain  fine  libraries,  relics  of  the 
scholastic  epoch,  but  most  of  the  endowments  have 
been  dissipated,  and  there  are  no  scholars  in  Damascus 
now,  except  a  few  learned  priests,  while  the  schools 
are  limited  to  the  theologians.  Education  is  at  a  very 
low  ebb.  Seventy-five  or  eighty  per  cent  of  the  people 
are  illiterate.  Recently  there  has  been  a  spasm  of 
reform,  and  173  primary  schools  have  been  organized 
upon  the  French  plan  for  the  instruction  of  children, 
but  so  far  as  can  be  learned  they  are  poorly  attended 
and  poorly  taught. 

Two  of  Mohammed’s  wives  and  his  daughter  Fatima 
are  said  to  be  buried  in  the  Makbaret,  or  public  bury- 

119 


120  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


ing-ground  of  Damascus,  under  a  very  ancient  tomb 
with  an  imposing  dome,  and  there  seems  to  be  no 
doubt  about  the  truth  of  the  tradition.  Mohammed 
was  buried  at  Medina  in  632,  and  over  his  grave  rises 
a  great  green  dome.  He  was  born  at  Mecca  in  571. 
His  parents  were  of  an  influential  and  even  illustrious 
family,  but  died  when  he  was  an  infant,  and  left  him 
to  the  care  of  an  uncle,  who  trained  him  to  a  business 
career,  and  at  twenty-five  years  of  age  he  undertook 
the  management  of  the  property  of  a  rich  widow, 
whom  he  afterward  married.  During  a  visit  to  Syria 
in  her  interest  he  was  brought  in  contact  with  several 
learned  men  of  the  Greek  Church  of  that  day,  from 
whom  he  first  learned  of  Christ  and  His  gospel. 

Mohammed  is  called  the  illiterate  prophet  because 
he  could  neither  read  nor  write,  but  appears  somehow 
to  have  obtained  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures,  and  when  he  was  about  forty  years  of  age  began 
to  assert  his  own  prophetic  mission,  which  his  fellow 
townsmen  would  not  recognize,  and  drove  him  from 
Mecca.  He  fled  to  Medina,  and  his  flight,  known  as 
the  Hegira,  is  considered  the  most  important  event  of 
his  life,  and  from  it  the  Mohammedans  calculate  time 
as  we  do  from  the  Christian  era.  The  angel  Gabriel, 
he  claimed,  revealed  to  him  the  contents  of  the  Koran, 
which  were  written  at  his  dictation  upon  palm  leaves, 
stones,  pieces  of  leather  and  the  shoulder  blades  of 
camels  and  goats.  After  his  death  these  literary  frag¬ 
ments  were  compiled  into  what  is  called  the  Koran, 
and  the  entire  Moslem  world  accepts  it  as  inspired  and 
regards  it  with  a  degree  of  reverence  accorded  to  no 
other  book.  Its  teachings  are  believed  to  be  abso¬ 
lutely  divine  and  eternal,  and  upon  them  Moslems  base 
their  religious  faith,  guide  their  daily  life,  and  control 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME 


I  2 1 


their  entire  intellectual,  moral  and  spiritual  action.  It 
is  a  book  of  law  as  well  as  religion,  and  is  used  in  the 
Mohammedan  courts  as  the  common  law  is  used  in 
England  and  the  United  States.  Mohammed  accepted 
most  of  the  Bible,  including  the  Gospels  of  Jesus,  and 
regarded  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses,  David,  Jesus, 
John  the  Baptist  and  others  as  inspired  messengers 
and  apostles.  The  teachings  of  Jesus  are  commended 
in  the  Koran,  but  He  is  considered  simply  a  teacher 
of  truth  and  is  not  acknowledged  as  the  Son  of  God. 

The  Mohammedans  believe  in  the  essential  doctrines 
of  Christianity;  that  God  is  the  Creator  of  the  Uni¬ 
verse,  Infinite,  Unchangeable  and  Eternal,  and  that  all 
events,  both  good  and  evil,  are  foreordained  by  Him; 
they  believe  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  in  the 
last  judgment,  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  pun¬ 
ishment  after  death,  and  their  own  future  life  will  be 
governed  by  their  faith  and  work  in  this.  Mohamme¬ 
danism  is  a  system  of  rewards.  The  Koran  does  not 
forbid,  but  makes  promises  of  reward  for  good  works. 
Obedience  to  the  Koran  and  loyalty  to  the  prophet  is 
the  duty  of  true  believers.  Every  Moslem  is  required 
to  pray  at  least  five  times  a  day,  to  give  alms,  to  fast 
and  to  make  pilgrimages.  They  are  forbidden  to  eat 
certain  meat,  and  the  use  of  wine  and  other  strong 
drink  is  strictly  prohibited.  The  Mohammedans  are 
undoubtedly  the  most  temperate  people  in  the  world, 
and  no  man  can  enter  the  house  of  prayer  without 
bathing. 

Friday  is  the  Moslem  Sabbath,  because  Adam  was 
created  on  that  day  and  because  the  resurrection  will 
take  place  on  Friday.  Formerly  all  true  believers 
abstained  from  their  usual  vocations  on  Friday,  but 
few  of  them  do  so  any  longer.  The  only  difference 


122  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

# 

with  them  between  Friday  and  any  other  day  is  that 
the  services  at  the  mosque  are  prolonged.  There  are 
many  saints  in  the  Mohammedan  calendar,  with 
shrines  which  are  regarded  with  great  reverence. 
Pilgrimages  are  made  to  them,  prayers  and  sacrifices 
are  offered  and  various  rites  and  ceremonies  observed 
which  are  a  part  of  their  worship.  The  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca  is  obligatory,  or  at  least  those  who  perform  it 
are  certain  of  salvation.  It  is  not  so  much  a  journey 
of  hardship  and  privation  as  formerly,  and  can  now  be 
made  from  Damascus  in  forty-four  days  upon  mules, 
horses,  camels  and  donkeys.  Rich  people  go  by  rail¬ 
road  to  Beirut  and  from  there  by  steamer  to  Jedda,  a 
port  on  the  Red  Sea  forty  miles  from  Mecca;  but  as  the 
hardships  and  privations  are  less,  so  the  merit  of  the 
pilgrimage  is  diminished  in  the  same  degree.  For 
centuries  Damascus  has  been  the  starting-place  for  the 
annual  pilgrimage,  which  begins  each  spring  on  a  cer¬ 
tain  date,  and  is  led  by  the  Governor  of  Syria,  who 
escorts  the  sacred  “Mahmel,”  or  canopy  of  green  silk 
supported  on  silver  posts  and  surmounted  by  a  gilded 
ball  and  crescent.  A  new  one  is  sent  every  year  for 
the  protection  of  the  Holy  Stone  at  Mecca,  and  is  the 
gift  of  the  Pasha  of  Damascus.  The  procession,  as  it 
passes  out  of  “the  Gate  of  God,”  is  altogether  unique, 
and  the  spectacle  is  imposing.  All  the  prominent 
officials  of  the  city  and  a  military  escort  accompany 
the  procession  for  a  certain  distance,  and  see  the 
pilgrims  well  on  their  way.  Upon  reaching  Mecca 
they  kiss  the  Holy  Stone,  hear  a  sermon  from  some 
high  priest,  pelt  Satan  with  stones  in  the  Valley  of 
Mina,  and  conclude  the  ceremony  with  great  sacri¬ 
ficial  feasts,  at  which  hundreds  of  sheep  are  slaugh¬ 
tered  and  fed  to  the  multitudes. 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  123 


Mohammedan  worship  is  regulated  by  ritual.  The 
worshiper  stands  with  his  face  toward  Mecca,  just  as 
pious  Israelites  turn  their  faces  toward  the  temple  in 
Jerusalem.  The  Mohammedans  borrowed  many 
customs  from  the  Jews.  From  remote  antiquity  the 
children  of  Israel  in  prayer  directed  their  faces  toward 
the  place  where  the  ark  was  located,  and  when  that 
was  firmly  established  in  Jerusalem  they  turned  in 
their  devotions  toward  the  Holy  City.  It  is  the  custom 
of  the  Mohammedans  to  pray  five  times  a  day — at 
dawn,  at  noon,  midway  between  noon  and  sunset,  at 
sunset  and  an  hour  and  a  half  later — and  those  who 
are  especially  devout  make  two  other  prayers — one 
soon  after  midnight  and  another  an  hour  before  day¬ 
break — seven  in  all,  which  was  the  custom  of  the 
ancient  Jews.  “Seven  times  a  day  do  I  praise  Thee 
because  of  Thy  righteous  judgment,”  said  David  in 
the  119th  Psalm.  “Evening,  morning  and  at  noon 
will  I  pray  and  call  aloud.” 

The  Mohammedan  begins  his  prayer  standing,  with 
his  hands  outspread  and  his  thumbs  touching  the  lobes 
of  his  ears.  In  this  position  he  repeats  certain  pas¬ 
sages  from  the  Koran,  then  brings  his  hands  down  to 
his  girdle,  folds  them,  and  recites  several  other  pas¬ 
sages  from  the  same  book.  Next  he  bends  forward, 
rests  both  hands  upon  his  knees,  and  repeats  three 
times  with  bowed  head  the  formula  of  prayer  to  God, 
the  Most  Great.  Then  he  rises  and  cries,  “Allah  hu 
akbar!”  (God  is  great)  sixteen  times.  He  then  drops 
forward  until  his  forehead  touches  the  ground  between 
his  extended  hands.  He  strikes  his  head  upon  the 
floor  at  least  three  times,  proclaiming  his  humility,  and 
often  a  dozen  and  sometimes  twenty  times  the  act  will 
be  repeated,  according  to  his  desire  to  show  humility 


124  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


and  repentance.  He  then  returns  to  his  knees  and 
settling  back  upon  his  heels  repeats  a  ritual.  Next, 
arising  to  his  feet,  he  holds  his  hands  and  concludes 
the  prayer,  repeating  over  and  again  the  words,  “There 
is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet.” 
This  may  be  repeated  once  or  a  dozen  or  forty  times, 
according  to  the  piety  of  the  worshiper,  and  he  holds 
a  string  of  beads  in  his  hands  to  keep  tally.  His  obli¬ 
gations  are  then  accomplished,  but  he  can  go  through 
the  same  ritual  again  as  many  times  as  he  likes.  The 
more  frequently  he  does  so  the  better  Moslem  he  is. 
His  piety  is  measured  by  the  number  of  times  he 
repeats  his  prayers,  and,  like  the  Pharisees  of  the 
Scriptures,  he  prays  in  public  places.  No  matter 
where  he  happens  to  be  or  by  whom  he  is  surrounded, 
whether  at  labor  in  the  fields  or  selling  goods  in  his 
shop  or  however  he  may  be  employed,  the  Mussulman 
never  forgets  to  pray  when  the  voice  of  the  muezzin 
reminds  him  that  the  hour  for  devotion  has  arrived. 

It  is  interesting  to  see  the  sailors  of  the  ships  on  the 
Mediterranean  performing  their  devotion  on  the  open 
deck,  and  I  have  seen  travelers  praying  on  the  plat¬ 
form  of  a  railway  train,  going  through  the  same  phys¬ 
ical  movements  that  are  performed  in  the  mosques. 
When  a  court  is  sitting  the  judge,  the  lawyers,  wit¬ 
nesses  and  all  concerned  will  immediately  drop  busi¬ 
ness  as  the  call  for  prayer  is  uttered  and  go  through 
their  devotions.  Merchants  will  stop  in  the  midst  of 
a  bargain,  and  donkey  drivers  will  drop  down  by  the 
roadside  without  regard  to  publicity,  and  for  the 
moment  they  manifest  a  power  of  abstraction  and  con¬ 
centration  which  seems  quite  surprising.  Of  course 
the  people  who  pray  the  most  and  the  longest  are  the 
most  fanatical,  and  if  there  is  one  thing  that  will  help 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  125 


them  to  heaven  quicker  than  prayer  it  is  the  killing  of 
a  few  unbelievers. 

Business  men  open  their  shops  with  prayer.  As 
they  take  down  their  shutters  they  appeal  to  the  most 
high  God  to  send  them  customers,  and  when  the  cus¬ 
tomers  do  not  purchase  as  much  as  they  would  like  to 
sell  they  kneel  again  and  pray  that  Allah  will  send 
them  more  liberal-minded  patrons  with  more  money. 
It  would  seem  that  half  the  men  you  meet  upon  the 
street  are  muttering  prayers  as  they  walk  along.  They 
finger  their  beads  with  an  air  of  abstraction,  their  eyes 
resting  upon  the  ground  and  their  feet  moving  in  slow, 
dignified  strides.  The  man  may  be  a  priest  or  a  mer¬ 
chant  or  a  cadi  (judge).  His  demeanor  is  so  austere 
and  sanctimonious  that  you  cannot  help  thinking  that 
he  is  guilty  of  the  same  hypocrisy  for  which  Christ 
condemned  the  Pharisees.  You  see  men  sitting  before 
the  cafes  counting  their  beads  and  moving  their  lips 
silently,  with  coffee  cups  at  their  sides,  and  the  more 
dignified  the  man  the  more  suspicious  you  are  of  him. 

It  was  such  men  as  these  who  planned  and  directed 
the  massacre  of  the  Christians  in  Damascus  in  i860, 
one  of  the  most  inexcusable  and  diabolical  atrocities 
that  ever  occurred.  Fourteen  thousand  unarmed  and 
unoffending  citizens  are  said  to  have  been  murdered 
in  Syria,  and  no  fewer  than  six  thousand  in  Damascus 
alone,  where  to  this  day  the  Christian  quarter  still 
bears  evidence  of  the  terrible  devastation  to  which  it 
was  subjected.  All  the  consulates  except  the  British 
and  the  Prussian  were  destroyed,  and  many  of  the 
Christian  churches.  The  soldiers  from  the  barracks 
joined  with  the  mob  of  Moslems  and  assisted  in  the 
murder  and  the  plunder,  while  the  pasha  was  entirely 
passive  and  did  nothing  to  prevent  or  to  stop  the  kill- 


126  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


ing.  Many  people  think  that  he  was  acting  under 
orders  from  Constantinople.  The  circumstances  in 
many  respects  were  similar  to  those  of  the  massacre 
of  1896  at  the  latter  city.  The  powers  of  Europe  were 
compelled  to  interfere  because  of  public  indignation, 
and  the  Turkish  government  was  induced  to  punish 
several  of  the  ringleaders,  including  Ahmad  Pasha,  the 
governor,  who  was  beheaded.  Since  that  time  there 
have  been  no  persecutions  or  violence. 

The  mosque  of  Omayade  at  Damascus  is  unsurpassed 
in  all  Islam  except  by  those  at  Constantinople  and  the 
mosque  of  Omar  at  Jerusalem,  and  so  far  as  historical 
associations  are  concerned,  it  is  perhaps  more  inter¬ 
esting  than  any  other.  It  is  entered  from  the  great 
bazaars  on  several  sides,  and  over  the  central  gateway 
which  leads  from  the  goldsmith’s  bazaar  is  a  Greek 
inscription  reading  as  follows: 


THY  KINGDOM,  O  CHRIST,  IS  AN  EVERLAST¬ 
ING  KINGDOM  AND  THY  DOMINION  ENDURETH 
THROUGHOUT  ALL  GENERATIONS. 


This,  as  you  will  recognize,  is  taken  from  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fifth  Psalm,  with  the  name  of 
Christ  interpolated,  and  it  is  surprising  that  Moham¬ 
medan  fanaticism  should  have  permitted  it  to  remain 
for  more  than  twelve  hundred  years  upon  the  sacred 
walls  of  the  most  sacred  temple  in  the  sacred  city. 
But  there  are  stranger  things  than  this.  For  a  time 
the  mosque  was  divided  between  the  Moslems  and 
Christians,  and  both  worshiped  under  the  same  roof, 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  127 


as  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  at  Jerusalem  is 
divided  between  the  Greeks  and  the  Roman  Catholics. 

Long  before  Abraham  passed  through  Damascus  in 
his  migration  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  to  the  land  of 
Canaan,  the  site  of  the  mosque  was  occupied  by  an 
altar  dedicated  to  the  pagan  god  Baal.  It  was  after¬ 
ward  occupied  by  “The  House  of  Rimmon,”  probably 
erected  by  one  of  the  Benhadad  kings  who  reigned  in 
this  city  at  the  time  of  David  and  to  whom  Naaman 
referred  in  his  interview  with  Elisha.  Ahaz,  the  King 
of  Judea,  saw  it  when  he  came  to  Damascus,  and  sent 
the  “pattern”  to  a  priest  in  Jerusalem.  Several  cen¬ 
turies  later  the  Greeks  built  a  heathen  temple  with 
courts,  colonnades  and  triumphal  arches,  which,  during 
the  reign  of  Constantine,  was  converted  into  a  church 
and  dedicated  to  John  the  Baptist,  whose  head  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  been  inclosed  in  a  globe  at  the  top  of 
the  altar. 

In  the  seventh  century,  when  the  Moslems  con¬ 
quered  Damascus,  they  took  possession  of  the  eastern 
part  of  the  church  and  allowed  the  Christians  to 
occupy  the  western  part,  but  this  extraordinary  tolera¬ 
tion  did  not  continue  long.  The  Christians  were  not 
only  soon  expelled,  but  have  ever  since  been  forbid¬ 
den  to  enter  the  inclosure  of  the  sacred  edifice, 
although  it  is  still  known  as  the  Mosque  of  St.  John 
the  Baptist,  and  the  head  of  the  apostle  is  still  pre¬ 
served  beneath  the  “mukam”  or  shrine  that  occupies 
the  central  part  of  the  building.  His  remains  are  scat¬ 
tered  over  a  good  part  of  the  world.  One  of  his  fingers 
is  in  St.  Petersburg,  several  of  his  bones  are  in  Rome, 
one  of  his  hands  is  in  Alexandria,  his  heart  is  in  a 
mosque  at  Aleppo,  and  his  head  is  here. 

The  mosque  of  Omayade  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the 


128  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


world,  being  about  500  feet  long  and  350  feet  broad, 
and  opens  into  a  vast  quadrangle  with  innumerable 
columns,  Saracenic  arches  and  curious  structures  of 
the  Oriental  type.  One,  called  “the  Dome  of  the 
Water  Spout,”  covers  the  fountain  at  which  the  faith¬ 
ful  perform  their  ablutions  before  entering  the  sanc¬ 
tuary.  Another,  called  “the  Dome  of  the  Treasure,”  is 
a  perfect  Corinthian  structure  used  for  library  purposes, 
and  is  said  to  be  stored  with  a  large  collection  of 
sacred  books  and  records  centuries  old;  but  no  Chris¬ 
tian  is  allowed  to  inspect  them.  The  mosque  has 
recently  suffered  severely  from  fire,  and  is  now  under¬ 
going  repairs.  Two  or  three  hundred  men  are  at  work 
cutting  and  laying  stone  and  restoring  the  roof,  which 
is  being  covered  with  fireproofing  in  the  form  of  thick 
sheets  of  lead.  Under  the  lead  is  a  coating  of  mud, 
dried  hard;  under  that,  several  layers  of  straw  matting 
and  then,  beneath  that  and  lying  upon  the  rafters,  are 
rows  of  poplar  poles. 

We  could  not  visit  the  mosque  without  a  guard  to 
protect  us  from  the  fanatics  and  half-crazy  priests  and 
devotees,  who  consider  it  a  profanation  to  allow  Chris¬ 
tians  to  enter  the  sacred  building.  But  instead  of  a 
soldier,  our  protector  was  the  kavass  of  the  American 
consulate,  diminutive  and  grotesque  in  appearance,  but 
a  man  of  mighty  valor.  He  resembles  Francis  Wilson 
in  his  make-up  for  “Erminie.  ”  His  silver  embroidered 
livery  was  rather  worse  for  wear,  and  his  hat  looked  as 
if  it  had  served  a  former  generation.  The  sword 
that  dangled  at  his  side  was  of  fearful  dimensions,  but 
he  is  a  merciful  man  and  carried  a  little  riding  whip, 
which  he  used  instead,  and  very  freely,  upon  the  calves 
of  small  boys,  donkey  drivers  and  loafers  who  got  in 
our  way.  He  is  not  only  useful,  but  a  joy  forever,  for 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  129 


his  heart  is  filled  with  good  will  and  he  bubbles  over 
with  humor.  When  we  inquired  why  he  must  accom¬ 
pany  us  we  were  told  that  he  would  keep  off  the  beg¬ 
gars,  and  “if  anyone  insults  you  he  will  report  him  to 
the  governor  and  send  him  to  prison.”  A  consular 
kavass  in  an  Oriental  town  is  all-powerful.  He  is 
admitted  everywhere.  No  one  dares  interfere  with 
him,  and  the  way  he  ordered  the  priests  around  at  the 
mosque  was  beautiful  to  behold,  while  the  beggars, 
whose  name  is  legion,  dared  not  come  near  us. 

The  mosque  is  divided  into  three  aisles  by  rows  of 
columns  which  extend  the  whole  of  its  vast  length. 
The  columns  are  twenty-four  feet  high,  of  the  choicest 
marble,  with  beautifully  carved  Corinthian  capitals. 
The  material  of  the  walls  is  various  colored  marbles 
from  the  finest  quarries  of  the  ancient  world,  and  the 
upper  part  of  the  walls  and  the  dome  are  enriched  with 
tiles  and  mosaics.  It  is  said  that  1,200  artists  were 
engaged  for  thirty  years  in  the  decoration.  The  ceil¬ 
ing  before  the  fire  was  of  wood  overlaid  with  gold, 
but  much  of  it  has  been  destroyed.  The  part  which 
remains  indicates  how  beautiful  it  must  have  been 
before  the  catastrophe.  In  the  center  of  the  mosque 
four  massive  pillars  support  a  dome  120  feet  high  and 
100  feet  in  circumference,  whose  surface  is  embellished 
with  mosaics  and  frescoes  formed  of  texts  from  the 
Koran  in  the  beatiful  caligraphy  which  the  Arabs 
delight  to  display.  The  marble  floor  is  covered  with 
rugs  of  the  rarest  texture.  The  pulpit  is  of  alabaster 
and  the  fretwork  of  its  sides  represents  the  highest 
skill  of  Oriental  artists.  The  “mukam”  or  shrine  in 
the  center  is  an  exquisite  piece  of  brass  and  tile  work 
Both  the  metal  and  the  porcelain  are  said  to  be  unsur¬ 
passed.  It  must  have  been  a  beautiful  building  before 


1 3o  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  fire,  and  even  now  excites  the  admiration  quite  as 
much  as  St.  Sophia  or  any  of  the  mosques  in  Constan¬ 
tinople,  perhaps  because  it  is  a  purer  example  of  the 
real  Saracenic  art  and  architecture. 

Being  a  sort  of  religious  center,  Damascus  is  filled 
with  fanatics,  devotees,  theologians  and  curious  people 
of  all  sorts,  and  here  flourish  that  odd  religious  brother¬ 
hood,  who  are  divided  into  two  classes  or  sects  known 
as  the  whirling  and  the  howling  dervishes.  They  are 
Moslem  monks — religious  specialists — who  are  under 
the  restraint  of  vows  to  devote  their  lives  to  certain 
pious  purposes  and  to  deprive  themselves  of  luxuries, 
comforts  and  other  forms  of  worldly  happiness,  and 
to  praise  God  perpetually  in  their  peculiar  and,  what 
seems  to  us,  outlandish  way.  They  resemble  in  some 
respects  certain  monks  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
like  the  Trappists,  for  example,  who  sentence  them¬ 
selves  to  eternal  silence,  and  their  performances  are 
very  little  different  from  those  of  the  “shouting 
Methodists”  whom  we  have  at  home.  In  fact  they 
remind  me  of  revival  and  camp-meeting  scenes  I  have 
witnessed  in  the  United  States,  where  the  emotions  of 
the  worshipers  have  been  excited  to  a  condition  of 
ecstasy  by  means  similar  to  those  used  to  the  same 
end  by  the  dervishes  of  the  Moslem  faith. 

It  would  be  scarcely  considered  consistent  with 
spiritual  sincerity  for  a  company  of  converts  in  the 
United  States  to  enter  into  contract  to  give  exhibitions 
of  their  religious  fervor  for  the  amusement  of  the  pub¬ 
lic,  or  for  the  managers  of  a  “protracted  meeting”  to 
charge  strangers  an  admission  fee  in  order  that  they 
might  gratify  their  curiosity  as  to  how  the  “redeemed” 
may  behave  under  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
Those  things,  however,  are  actually  done  by  the 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  131 


dervishes.  They  charge  an  admission  fee  in  many 
places  to  unbelievers  who  wish  to  see  them  whirl  and 
hear  them  “howl.”  This  is  explained  and  justified  on 
the  ground  that  the  “infidels’'  contribute  nothing  to 
the  support  of  the  church,  and  that  it  is  quite  as  proper 
to  take  money  at  the  door  as  to  pass  a  contribution 
plate  as  we  do  in  our  churches.  No  Turk,  no  Moham¬ 
medan,  no  man  who  wears  a  fez,  has  to  pay  for  admis¬ 
sion,  only  foreigners  who  are  actuated  by  curiosity.  It 
is  the  common  and  the  proper  thing  for  all  strangers 
visiting  Mohammedan  cities  to  witness  the  religious 
exercises  of  the  dervishes  and  preparations  are  made 
to  receive  them.  Chairs  are  placed  for  their  accommo¬ 
dation,  for  the  rest  of  the  congregation  sit  Turkish 
fashion,  cross-legged  upon  the  floor;  and  felt  slippers 
are  provided  for  the  “infidels”  to  draw  over  their 
boots  instead  of  requiring  them  to  walk  about  in  their 
stocking  feet.  The  best  places  are  reserved  for  them, 
and  it  seems  to  be  expected  that  they  will  come  and 
stare  and  ask  questions  about  the  extraordinary  scenes 
that  are  to  be  witnessed. 

The  order  of  dervish  monks  dates  back  a  thousand 
years.  It  originated  with  a  famous  mystic  who  was 
given  to  long  fasts  and  vigils,  and  who  used  to  see  vis¬ 
ions  and  perform  miracles.  Some  of  the  leading 
dervishes  at  this  day  are  supposed  to  have  similar 
powers,  and  when  they  pass  into  a  state  of  ecstasy  or 
hysteria,  their  eyes  are  allowed  to  see  what  transpires 
in  the  Moslem  heaven  and  their  ears  to  hear  the  whis¬ 
pers  of  the  prophets,  the  patriarchs  and  other  holy 
spirits  who  have  gone  before.  The  dervishes  are  also 
mendicants,  and  live  upon  such  contributions  as  pious 
people  offer  them.  They  abandon  all  earthly  joys  and 
possessions  and  by  a  complete  surrender  of  “self,” 


1 32  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


merge  their  souls  into  God  and  live  under  a  spell 
which  renders  them  capable  of  elevating  themselves 
into  ecstasy  and  becoming  oblivious  to  all  external 
impressions. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  dervishes,  which  differ  as  to 
the  best  methods  of  praising  God.  The  dancing,  or 
Mevlevi  dervishes,  are  named  after  their  founder, 
Mevlana,  who  was  a  prince  of  Persia,  and  in  1245 
renounced  the  world,  became  a  hermit  and  wrote  a 
book  called  “The  Mesnevi.”  His  successor  is  the 
chief  of  the  order,  occupies  a  high  place  in  the  Moslem 
Church,  ranks  with  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  in 
England,  crowns  the  sultan  of  Turkey,  although  the 
ceremony  consists  of  girding  him  with  the  sword  of 
Osman  instead  of  placing  a  coronet  upon  his  brow.  The 
Mevlevi  dervishes  are  bound  by  very  strict  vows,  and 
their  lives  are  spent  in  perpetual  adoration.  They  go 
through  their  peculiar  religious  exercises  of  dancing  or 
whirling,  which  they  call  “zikr,”  twice  a  week,  every 
Tuesday  and  Friday,  after  the  midday  prayer.  Their 
physical  strength  will  not  permit  them  to  do  so  more 
frequently. 

The  ceremony  consists  in  revolving  gently  upon 
their  toes  and  at  the  same  time  moving  slowly  around 
the  mosque,  which  is  usually  built  in  octagonal  form, 
circle  within  circle,  to  the  music  of  flute  and  tambour¬ 
ine  and  a  monotonous  chant,  in  which  the  power  and 
glory  of  God  are  extolled  and  the  uselessness  of  an 
earthly  existence  is  proclaimed.  The  chanting  and 
orchestral  accompaniment  are  performed  by  monks 
who  are  physically  unable  to  go  through  the  exercise. 
It  is  a  tremendous  strain  upon  the  body  as  well  as 
upon  the  senses,  and  the  dervish  monks  are  always 
short-lived.  When  the  dancing  commences,  they 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME 


133 


extend  their  arms  at  full  length,  the  right  above  the 
head,  the  left  below,  with  one  hand  opened  upward, 
the  other  opened  downward,  their  eyes  closed  and 
their  heads  bent  sidewise  upon  their  shoulders.  Some¬ 
times  they  continue  to  revolve  without  ceasing  for  half 
an  hour.  The  chief  priest  or  monk  gives  the  signal  to 
begin  and  to  stop,  according  to  some  rule  which  I  have 
not  been  able  to  ascertain.  After  a  few  moments  of 
whirling  the  muscles  become  rigid,  the  performer  loses 
control  of  his  senses  and  becomes  partially  uncon¬ 
scious,  passing  into  an  epileptic  condition,  which  is 
the  object  desired,  for  the  soul  then  enters  the  spiritual 
world,  “becomes  one  with  God,”  and  the  effacement  of 
the  corrupt  and  carnal  nature  of  the  subject  is  com¬ 
plete  in  the  presence  of  the  Creator. 

At  the  close  of  the  exercise  the  monks  pass  out  of 
the  mosque  in  a  semi-conscious  condition  and  enter 
their  cells,  where  they  remain  in  seclusion  until  they 
have  recovered  full  consciousness  and  the  ecstasy  has 
passed  away.  Preparations  for  the  exercise  are  made 
by  fasting  and  prayer.  The  bodies  of  the  devotees  are 
very  poorly  nourished.  They  are  vegetarians  and  take 
no  stimulants.  Bread  and  vegetables  are  their  only 
food,  no  wine,  coffee  nor  tea,  nor  other  artificial  stimu¬ 
lant  is  permitted,  and  they  take  no  medicine  when  they 
are  ill,  depending  entirely  upon  prayer,  like  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Scientists.  Naturally  they  are  lean,  pale,  haggard 
looking  men  with  distorted  ideas  of  all  worldly  affairs. 
They  seldom  appear  outside  of  their  convents  except 
to  beg  or  to  attend  funerals,  at  which  they  are  com¬ 
monly  employed  as  mourners. 

The  Rufal,  or  howling  dervishes,  another  sect,  were 
founded  in  1160  by  Ahmed  Rufal,  an  eminent  and 
learned  monk  who  invented  a  new  form  of  worship, 


i34  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

which  is  similar  in  its  effects  to  that  of  the  dancing 
dervishes.  The  worshipers  are  thrown  into  a  state  of 
ecstasy  and  spiritual  purity  by  the  exercise  of  the 
vocal  chords  as  well  as  of  the  muscles  of  the  body. 
Their  physical  movements  are  even  more  violent  than 
those  of  the  dancers,  and  their  worship  is  much  more 
exciting  for  strangers.  It  is  not  unusual  for  them  to 
be  carried  out  of  the  mosque  quite  helpless  and  entirely 
unconscious,  struggling  in  spasms  and  foaming  at  the 
mouth.  Many  times  have  I  attended  camp  meetings 
and  revivals  among  the  negroes  of  the  southern  states, 
at  which  new  converts  were  thrown  into  similar  con¬ 
vulsions.  Unbelievers  are  admitted  to  the  worship  of 
the  howling  dervishes  upon  the  payment  of  a  fee. 
Believers  are  admitted  free.  The  mosque  is  usually  a 
chamber  thirty  or  forty  feet  square,  the  floor  being 
covered  with  Turkish  rugs  and  the  “mihrab”  or  seat 
of  the  sheik,  or  leader,  being  placed  in  the  direction 
of  Mecca.  After  the  recitation  of  the  usual  midday 
prayers  the  sheik  takes  a  position  cross-legged  upon 
the  carpet  in  front  of  the  “mihrab,”  while  the  monks 
seat  themselves  in  a  semicircle  before  him  and  recite 
in  unison  a  monotonous  formula  which  corresponds  to 
the  Christian  confession  of  faith. 

This  preliminary  being  finished,  they  arise  and  com¬ 
mence  slowly  to  repeat  in  unison  the  words,  “La  ilah 
ilia  ’llah,”  which  they  divide  into  six  syllables.  It 
means  that  God  is  great  and  that  there  is  no  god  but 
Allah.  While  pronouncing  the  first  syllable  they  bend 
forward;  at  the  second  syllable  they  raise  themselves 
to  an  upright  natural  position,  and  at  the  third  syllable 
they  bend  backward.  These  three  motions  are 
repeated  as  the  three  following  syllables  are  pro¬ 
nounced,  alternately  inclining  the  body  to  the  right 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  135 


and  to  the  left.  The  words  are  pronounced  softly  in 
unison,  and  the  motion  begins  very  slowly,  but  the 
tones  increase  in  strength  and  the  motions  in  rapidity 
until  the  sound  becomes  unintelligible,  a  continuous 
wail  or  wild  cry,  and  the  motion  of  the  most  violent 
character.  There  is  always  an  accompaniment  of 
drums  and  other  instruments. 

After  this  performance  has  continued  for  a  certain 
length  of  time  the  sheik  gives  a  signal  and  the  monks 
begin  to  yell  and  scream  and  roar,  each  on  his  own 
hook,  and  twist  their  bodies  into  all  sorts  of  contor¬ 
tions  until  they  lose  control  of  their  muscles  and  their 
senses,  and  throw  themselves  into  a  frenzy  of  excite¬ 
ment,  stamping  their  feet  upon  the  floor,  grasping  each 
other’s  hands  and  whirling  about  while  the  sheik 
encourages  them  by  voice  and  gesture.  This  continues 
until  the  dervishes  are  exhausted.  Some  fall  down, 
foaming  at  the  mouth,  others  are  as  rigid  as  the  vic¬ 
tims  of  epileptic  fits.  They  shout  “Hu,  ya  Hu!” 
which  is  equivalent  to  “God,  oh  God!”  and  each  monk 
is  supposed  to  reiterate  it  ninety-nine  times  ninety- 
nine  times,  using  the  ninety-nine  different  names  and 
attributes  of  God  each  ninety-nine  times,  but  of  course 
in  the  intensity  of  their  excitement  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  keep  an  accurate  record  of  these  prayers,  and 
after  a  few  minutes  the  “worship”  becomes  a  scene  of 
inextricable  confusion.  The  physical  and  mental  con¬ 
dition  of  the  dervishes  is  almost  precisely  that,  called 
the  “powers,”  of  colored  Methodist  converts  at 
revivals  and  camp-meetings  in  the  United  States. 

Dervishes  are  in  great  demand  at  funerals.  The 
custom  of  hiring  mourners  is  a  very  ancient  one,  and 
the  Moslems  are  simply  imitating  the  practice  of  the 
Jews,  who,  from  the  time  of  the  prophets,  employed 


136  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


professionals  to  make  demonstrations  of  grief  and 
lamentation.  In  all  Jewish  cities  and  communities 
professional  mourners  are  called  upon  to  make  public 
lamentations  of  a  more  or  less  extravagant  manner 
for  the  dead.  Their  manifestations  of  grief  are  often 
boisterous.  They  tear  their  hair,  beat  their  breasts, 
rend  their  garments,  cast  dust  upon  their  heads  and 
shed  profuse  tears,  introducing  the  names  of  the  dead 
and  their  relatives  into  their  cries  and  moans.  In 
ancient  times  it  was  customary  to  preserve  the  tears 
shed  on  these  occasions,  each  professional  and  actual 
mourner  being  provided  with  a  bottle  called  a  “lachry¬ 
matory,”  made  of  thin  glass  or  pottery,  with  a  long, 
slender  neck  and  a  funnel-shaped  mouth,  in  which  to 
catch  the  tears.  It  was  customary  to  cork  and  seal 
these  tear-bottles  carefully  and  place  them  in  the 
coffins  of  the  dead  as  a  complimentary  testimonial,  the 
amount  of  tears  shed  being  a  measure  of  the  grief. 
You  will  find  several  allusions  to  this  custom  in  the 
Bible,  and  if  you  have  the  opportunity  of  attending  a 
funeral  in  Damascus,  or  any  other  of  the  ancient  towns 
of  Syria  which  have  not  been  affected  by  modern  inno¬ 
vations,  you  will  witness  demonstrations  similar  to 
those  of  David  over  the  body  of  Absalom  and  Jeremiah 
“over  the  daughter  of  my  people.” 

Tear-bottles  can  be  purchased  at  any  of  the  curiosity- 
shops,  both  genuine  ones  which  have  been  rifled  from 
the  graves  of  ancient  cemeteries,  and  imitations  which 
are  manufactured  at  Damascus,  Antioch,  Jerusalem 
and  other  places. 

Among  the  Moslems,  dervishes  are  often  employed  as 
mourners,  and  they  know  their  business.  They  pre¬ 
cede  and  follow  the  bier  upon  the  last  journey  of  the 
dead  to  the  cemetery,  howiing  like  a  gang  of  lunatics. 


THE  MOHAMMEDAN  AT  HOME  137 


They  stand  around  the  grave  while  the  coffin  is  being 
lowered  and  covered  with  earth  and  put  up  such  a 
performance  as  cannot  be  seen  elsewhere,  and  which 
no  sane  person  would  care  to  witness  but  once.  I  have 
no  doubt  they  take  due  pride  in  their  ability  in  this 
direction,  as  other  people  do  in  other  specialties,  and 
they  are  well  paid  for  making  the  disturbance  by  the 
relatives  of  the  dead.  Altogether,  the  dervishes,  next 
to  the  lepers  and  beggars,  are  the  most  repulsive  class 
of  people  that  you  meet  in  the  East. 


VI 

The  Women  of  Damascus 


139 


VI 


THE  WOMEN  OF  DAMASCUS. 

The  women  of  Damascus — that  is,  the  Moslem 
women — are  more  closely  veiled  than  those  of  Con¬ 
stantinople  and  other  eastern  cities,  because  the  people 
there  are  more  tenacious  in  the  observance  of  the 
ancient  customs  of  their  race  and  the  requirements  of 
their  religion.  The  veils  are  thicker  also,  and  cover 
the  entire  face.  Some  of  them  are  figured  so  that  the 
concealment  is  even  more  complete.  Greeks,  Jews 
and  Armenians  do  not  wear  veils,  and  some  of  them 
are  very  handsome,  particularly  the  Jewish  women. 
Their  eyes,  complexion  and  hair  are  superb.  The 
types  of  Oriental  loveliness  remind  you  of  Solomon’s 
Song.  A  great  many  women  go  about  the  streets 
wrapped  in  white  sheets.  This  was  formerly  a  badge 
of  the  Jews,  but  is  now  universal  among  the  poor 
people.  No  women  are  employed  about  the  hotels  or 
restaurants.  All  the  “domestic”  work  is  done  by 
men.  In  the  shops  and  manufactories  of  Damascus 
thousands  of  women  and  girls  are  employed,  but  they 
are  exclusively  Greeks  and  Jews.  No  Moslem  would 
permit  his  wife,  daughter  or  sister  to  appear  in  a  shop 
or  any  other  place  where  men  are  employed.  You 
frequently  find  women  doing  the  hardest  kind  of  man¬ 
ual  labor,  as  in  Bohemia  and  Hungary.  They  carry 
the  hod,  they  dig  ditches,  they  haul  carts  and  are 
employed  in  the  most  menial  labor.  In  Damascus  fac¬ 
tories,  where  brass  work,  pottery,  inlaid  furniture, 
embroideries,  and  other  characteristic  merchandise  of 
the  country,  is  produced,  women  artists  work  side  by 

14 1 


142  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


side  with  men,  producing  similar  results,  but  receiving 
only  half  as  much  wages.  Such  is  the  rule  the  world 
over.  No  matter  whether  a  woman  works  in  Chicago 
or  Damascus,  in  Fall  River  or  Constantinople,  in 
Sweden  or  in  Spain,  in  Japan  or  Bolivia,  she  is  never 
paid  more  than  half  as  much  as  men  receive  for  the 
same  kind  of  labor  and  the  same  degree  of  skill.  The 
injustice  is  universal. 

The  children  employed  in  the  Damascus  factories, 
hammering  brass,  carving  wood,  making  the  inlaid 
furniture  and  other  things  intended  for  export,  show  a 
remarkable  degree  of  skill.  You  see  little  boys  and 
girls  seven  or  eight  years  old,  who  ought  to  be  in  the 
kindergartens  or  the  primary  departments,  with 
engraving  tools  in  their  hands  instead  of  primers,  and 
showing  a  skill  and  accuracy  that  is  marvelous.  Little 
girls  sit  at  monstrous  looms  making  rugs  and  weaving 
silk  of  the  richest  texture  without  patterns  and  with  a 
speed  and  skill  that  is  almost  miraculous.  And  the 
wages  they  receive  are  only  a  small  percentage  of  what 
a  bootblack  or  a  newsboy  would  pick  up  on  the  streets 
of  Chicago  any  day;  sums  insufficient  to  provide  them 
proper  food  and  clothing;  only  a  few  coppers  valued 
perhaps  at  six,  eight  or  ten  cents  in  our  money. 

Girls  are  usually  married  in  their  twelfth  or  thir¬ 
teenth  year,  sometimes  when  they  are  only  ten  years 
old.  The  Damascene  in  search  for  a  bride  employs 
the  services  of  an  intermediary,  either  a  relative  or  a 
professional,  who  does  the  business  for  him  either  for 
love  or  for  a  fee,  which  is  regulated  by  the  amount  of 
the  dowry.  There  are  women,  generally  midwives  and 
nurses,  who  make  a  business  of  arranging  marriages. 
In  high  Moslem  society  a  groom  never  sees  his  bride 
until  the  wedding  day.  Among  the  lower  classes, 


THE  WOMEN  OF  DAMASCUS 


H3 


however,  intercourse  is  common.  Among  the  Jews 
and  Greeks  and  other  members  of  Christian  sects,  fam¬ 
ilies  intermingle  with  more  or  less  freedom,  but  mar¬ 
riages  are  arranged  in  the  same  way.  The  custom 
seems  to  be  civil  rather  than  religious. 

Women  are  still  bought  and  sold.  If  a  girl  is  very 
attractive  her  beauty  gives  her  a  value  as  a  bride  that 
is  not  possessed  by  a  widow,  or  a  spinster  of  advanced 
years,  or  a  maiden  without  personal  charms.  There¬ 
fore  a  father  who  has  a  handsome  daughter  expects  to 
be  paid  a  high  price  for  her,  as  if  she  were  a  slave, 
while  if  he  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  have  an  ugly  one  he 
is  expected  to  provide  a  sufficient  dowry  to  induce 
some  enterprising  or  avaricious  person  to  take  her  off 
his  hands.  When  everything  is  arranged  the  affianced 
groom  pays  the  purchase  money  to  a  trustee.  In  case 
of  a  dowry  the  rule  is  the  same.  The  money,  which¬ 
ever  way  it  happens,  is  always  settled  upon  the  wife. 
If  she  has  been  purchased  it  becomes  a  trust  fund 
which  she  inherits  upon  the  death  of  her  father  or 
when  she  reaches  a  certain  age.  If  it  is  a  dowry  it 
passes  into  the  control  of  her  husband,  who  may  enjoy 
the  interest  it  may  pay  or  any  revenue  that  may  be 
derived  from  the  investment,  like  any  other  part  of  the 
family  income;  but  in  case  of  his  death  or  divorce  the 
principal  belongs  to  the  wife. 

The  contract  being  completed  and  signed,  the  wed¬ 
ding  takes  place  with  more  or  less  ceremony,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  wealth  and  social  position  of  the  contracting 
parties.  Before  the  ceremony,  usually,  the  bride  is 
bathed  by  the  bridesmaids  and  other  attendants  and 
her  body  is  anointed  with  ointments  and  perfumes. 
She  is  then  enveloped  in  wraps  until  her  figure  and 
face  are  entirely  concealed,  and  conducted  by  a  pro- 


144  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


cession  of  friends  and  relatives  to  the  home  of  her 
future  husband,  who,  with  his  father,  mother  and 
relatives,  receive  her  at  the  threshold.  The  ceremony 
of  marriage  is  then  performed,  the  wedding  feast  is 
eaten,  and  at  its  close  the  blushing  bride  is  put  to  bed 
by  her  attendants. 

The  sale  of  women  slaves  is  almost  obsolete  in  Tur¬ 
key.  Occasionally  in  Constantinople,  Damascus  or  in 
some  of  the  larger  cities,  a  beautiful  girl  from  the 
interior  is  offered  for  a  high  price  to  the  pashas  and 
other  rich  connoisseurs  in  female  beauty.  In  the  inte¬ 
rior  of  the  country  the  custom  of  filling  the  harems  by 
purchases  of  attractive  women  still  exists,  but  is  grow¬ 
ing  rarer  as  the  influence  of  modern  civilization 
extends  eastward  and  penetrates  Turkish  communities. 
The  farther  one  goes  from,  the  railways  and  printing 
offices  the  more  common  are  the  ancient  practices.  In 
Damascus,  I  am  told  by  old  residents,  there  are  several 
professional  procurers,  both  women  and  men,  who 
make  it  their  business  to  travel  throughout  the  interior 
picking  up  pretty  women  and  buying  them  of  their 
parents  on  speculation.  Similar  people  carry  on  a 
similar  business  in  Constantinople,  Smyrna  and  other 
large  cities.  They  are  known  throughout  the  country, 
and  when  they  arrive  in  a  town  or  a  village  their  pres¬ 
ence  becomes  advertised,  and  they  are  waited  upon  at 
the  khan  (or  inn)  by  fathers  who  have  daughters  for 
sale  or  local  speculators  who  know  where  choice 
human  merchandise  may  be  obtained.  The  procurer, 
having  obtained  a  collection,  for  which  he  has  paid 
larger  or  lesser  sums,  according  to  their  personal 
attractions,  returns  to  Damascus  with  his  camel  cara¬ 
van  and  places  the  girls  in  his  own  house,  where  they 
are  attended  by  dressmakers,  milliners,  hairdressers 


THE  WOMEN  OF  DAMASCUS 


145 


and  other  grooms,  who  enhance  their  beauty  by  arti¬ 
ficial  methods  and  dress  them  according  to  the  prevail¬ 
ing  fashion. 

Men  who  desire  to  make  purchases  of  that  kind 
always  know,  or  can  easily  ascertain  where  to  apply, 
and  when  the  procurer  satisfies  himself  that  they  mean 
business  and  are  able  to  pay  his  prices  the  negotiations 
begin.  When  they  have  reached  a  certain  point  the 
customer  is  admitted  to  the  house  where  the  girls  are 
kept  and  allowed  to  inspect  their  charms.  When  he 
makes  a  selection  the  price  is  agreed  upon  and  the 
money  is  paid,  usually  from  $500  up  to  $3,000,  and  I 
am  informed  that  in  1901  a  girl  of  marvelous  beauty 
was  sold  in  Damascus  for  $5,000.  She  was  a  Circas¬ 
sian.  Most  of  the  girls  are  Circassians.  It  is  the  cus¬ 
tom  in  that  country  for  fathers  to  sell  their  daughters, 
and  the  Circassian  women  are  considered  the  most 
beautiful  in  all  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

Men  engaged  in  this  business  have  a  certain  degree 
of  conscientiousness.  They  will  not  deal  with  Chris¬ 
tians  and  always  exact  a  pledge  from  the  customer 
that  the  victim  and  her  children,  if  she  ever  has  any, 
shall  be  brought  up  in  “the  true  faith.”  Some  people 
say  this  is  a  matter  of  policy  rather  than  conscience, 
because  if  the  officials  should  learn  that  a  procurer  was 
selling  Moslem  girls  to  Christians  he  would  not  be 
allowed  to  continue  in  the  business  and  would  be  pun¬ 
ished  severely.  The  Moslem  moulahs,  or  priests, 
would  look  after  that. 

In  the  winter  of  1901  an  Italian  nobleman  from 
Naples  appeared  in  Constantinople  in  search  of  a  Cir¬ 
cassian  girl.  By  some  means  or  another  he  had 
obtained  one  fifteen  years  previous,  having  purchased 
her  of  a  dealer  in  Asia  Minor.  He  took  her  to  Naples, 


1 46  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


where  she  lived  as  his  mistress  and  had  proved  faith¬ 
ful,  amiable  and  affectionate,  but  her  health  had  failed 
and  he  wanted  to  get  another  of  the  same  sort,  but  was 
unable  to  do  so.  Everywhere  that  he  applied  he  was 
informed  that  the  custom  of  buying  and  selling  human 
flesh  had  been  abolished. 

Women  are  not  allowed  in  some  of  the  mosques.  In 
others  during  certain  hours  and  days  they  can  worship 
God.  Friday,  the  Sabbath  of  the  Moslems,  when  all 
true  believers  of  the  masculine  gender  make  a  point  of 
going  to  church,  their  wives,  sisters  and  daughters 
resort  to  the  cemeteries  and  wail  for  the  dead.  But 
all  their  time  is  not  spent  in  weeping,  and  sorrow  is 
not  the  only  emotion  they  display  on  these  occasions. 
They  take  with  them  bunches  and  garlands  of  flowers 
and  decorate  the  graves  of  their  relatives  and  pray  and 
weep  over  the  dead  for  a  time.  Then,  when  this  pious 
duty  is  performed,  they  gather  in  little  groups  and 
have  a  good  time  gossiping  about  the  living.  Thus 
the  day  of  mourning  is  very  popular  among  the  Mos¬ 
lem  women.  It  gives  them  almost  the  only  oppor¬ 
tunity  they  have  of  cultivating  the  acquaintance  of 
their  neighbors,  because  it  is  not  customary  to  ex¬ 
change  visits  as  in  our  country. 

There  are  few  large  harems  in  Damascus,  but  polyg¬ 
amy  is  general  among  those  who  can  afford  the 
luxury.  In  fact,  a  man’s  social  position  among  his 
fellow  men  is  regulated  somewhat  by  the  number  of 
his  wives,  just  as  it  is  in  our  country  by  the  horses  he 
keeps,  or  his  membership  in  clubs.  A  Damascene 
business  man  who  has  four  or  five  wives  is  considered 
about  as  much  of  a  swell  as  a  Chicagoan  who  sports  an 
automobile.  Divorce  is  easy,  “however.  All  a  man 
has  to  do  is  to  say  to  his  wife:  “Cover  thy  face  and 


THE  WOMEN  OF  DAMASCUS 


147 


return  to  thy  father’s  house.  I  am  done  with  thee.” 
That  is  the  end  of  it,  except  the  business  transactions 
that  must  follow;  for,  as  I  have  explained,  she  is 
allowed  to  keep  her  dowry  and  the  price  that  her  hus¬ 
band  paid  for  her. 

I  noticed  that  the  Damascus  women  who  carry  water 
upon  their  heads  like  the  maidens  you  see  in  the 
pictures  of  the  illustrated  Bible,  do  not  use  beautifully 
shaped  jars  and  urns  like  the  ancients,  but  old  petro¬ 
leum  tins,  some  of  them  bearing  the  stamp  of  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  and  others  those  of  Russian 
manufacturers  at  Batoum. 

The  dogs  of  Damascus  are  not  as  numerous  as  those 
of  Constantinople,  but  are  quite  as  lazy,  mangy  and 
wretched.  They  are  regarded  as  sacred  and  are 
allowed  to  live  and  die  without  interference.  Nobody 
owns  them,  nobody  cares  for  them  in  particular,  but 
collectively  they  are  the  wards  of  the  city  and  live  on 
the  scraps  that  are  thrown  into  the  street.  They  bark 
all  night  and  sleep  all  day,  stretched  in  the  sunshine, 
occupying  the  roadway  or  the  sidewalk,  or  the  most 
comfortable  spot  they  can  find.  Hackmen  and  team¬ 
sters  drive  around  them  and  pedestrians  step  over 
them,  being  careful  not  to  wake  them  up. 

Anyone  who  goes  into  a  Damascus  market,  and  the 
same  applies  to  all  the  cities  of  Syria,  will  be  reminded 
of  the  words  of  the  Saviour:  “Are  not  five  sparrows 
sold  for  two  farthings,  and  not  one  of  them  is  forgot¬ 
ten  before  God?  Fear  not  therefore;  ye  are  of  more 
value  than  many  sparrows.”  These  pestilential  little 
birds  are  even  more  numerous  and  troublesome  in  Syria 
than  in  the  United  States,  and  always  have  been 
since  the  time  of  David,  who  complained  that  they 
appropriated  the  altars  of  God  for  their  nests;  but  they 


1 48  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


afford  a  cheap  and  unfailing  supply  of  food  for  the 
poor,  and  you  see  large  baskets  filled  with  them  in  the 
market  places,  where  they  are  sold  for  about  the  same 
price  that  they  brought  in  the  Saviour’s  time.  They  are 
generally  served  every  day  at  the  hotel  for  dinner. 

Pigeons  are  almost  as  numerous,  but  are  never  killed. 
They  are  sacred  in  all  Mohammedan  countries.  Some 
people  say  that  the  Mohammedans  are  afraid  of  exter¬ 
minating  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  inhabits  a  dove; 
others  that  they  remember  the  dove  which  brought  the 
olive  branch  back  to  the  ark. 


VII 


By  Railroad  to  the  Grave  of  Noah 


149 


VII 

BY  RAILROAD  TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 

Tourists  will  soon  be  able  to  reach  the  ruins  of  Baal¬ 
bek  by  a  railroad  now  being  constructed  from  El  Mu- 
alla-ka,  about  halfway  between  Beirut  and  Damascus, 
up  the  valley  between  the  two  ranges  of  the  Lebanon 
Mountains,  to  Hama,  a  busy  city  of  50,000  or  60,000 
inhabitants.  The  work  is  being  done  by  a  French 
company,  which  owns  the  Beirut-Damascus  line,  and 
under  the  same  concession.  The  grading  is  all  fin¬ 
ished.  Large  quantities  of  iron  ties,  rails  and  other 
materials  have  been  scattered  along  the  right  of  way 
and  gangs  of  workmen  are  rapidly  laying  them  in 
place.  It  is  expected  that  the  road  will  be  completed 
in  1903  and  an  important  and  productive  section  of 
Syria  made  accessible  to  commerce. 

Hama,  or  Hamath,  as  it  is  spelled  in  the  Bible,  was 
the  capital  of  a  kingdom,  the  extent  of  which  we  do 
not  know.  Amos  speaks  of  it  as  “Hamath  the  great,” 
and  in  the  Second  Kings  we  are  told  of  its  capture  by 
the  Assyrians.  During  the  Greek  occupation  of  Syria 
it  was  a  very  important  market,  and  remained  so 
through  ten  centuries  down  to  the  time  of  the  crusades, 
when  it  was  fought  over  time  and  again  by  Tancred 
and  Saladin.  Its  modern  importance  is  somewhat 
limited  compared  with  ancient  times,  but  it  is  still  one 
of  the  largest  markets  in  Syria  and  the  chief  trading 
place  for  the  Bedouins  of  a  considerable  area.  The 
situation  is  hot  and  unhealthy,  the  town  is  dirty  and 
badly  paved;  most  of  the  houses  are  built  of  mud  and 
are  exceedingly  dirty,  but  have  agreeable  gardens, 

151 


1 52  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


which  partially  redeem  them.  The  chief  curiosity  of 
the  place  is  the  enormous  wheels  used  for  pumping  up 
the  water  of  the  Orontes.  They  look  like  miniature 
Ferris  wheels,  and,  turning  upon  wooden  axles  with¬ 
out  journals,  the  creaking  is  continuous  and  fearful. 
For  that  reason  no  stranger  is  ever  able  to  sleep  in 
Hama  for  several  nights  after  his  arrival. 

At  present  the  commerce  between  Hama  and  the 
coast  is  carried  on  by  camel  caravans  to  the  railway 
at  El  Mu-alla-ka,  and  the  latter  is  quite  an  important 
town.  It  has  several  schools  maintained  by  the  Protes¬ 
tants  and  the  Jesuits.  We  drove  from  there  to  Baal¬ 
bek  in  a  carriage  through  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and 
fertile  valleys  I  have  ever  seen.  The  ground  was 
glowing  with  poppies,  buttercups,  anemones  and  other 
wild  flowers.  Antoine,  our  driver,  was  a  Protestant 
convert  from  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church,  and  could 
talk  English  well.  He  learned  it  at  the  Presbyterian 
mission  school.  The  road  was  good,  the  carriage  com¬ 
fortable,  the  weather  delightful,  and  the  route  for  four 
hours  was  a  panorama  of  continuous  interest  until  we 
reached  ancient  Baalbek  and  were  received  at  a  hotel 
that  was  opened  only  the  week  before  and  was  as  neat 
and  comfortable  as  the  most  fastidious  traveler  could 
wish  for. 

In  the  village  of  Kerak-nuh,  on  the  outskirts  of  El 
Mu-alla-ka,  is  the  tomb  of  Noah,  and  the  most  extraor¬ 
dinary  object  I  have  seen  in  Syria.  Directly  across  the 
valley  on  the  lower  range  of  the  Anti-Lebanon  Moun¬ 
tains  is  the  tomb  of  Seth,  the  third  son  of  Adam  and 
Eve,  which  is  in  better  condition  and  regarded  with 
greater  reverence  than  that  of  Noah,  but  Seth  was  only 
fifty-five  feet  tall,  according  to  the  Moslem  tradition, 
while  Noah  was  152  feet.  Noah  was  so  tali  that  when 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 


153 


they  came  to  lay  him  in  his  sepulcher  they  were 
obliged  to  sink  a  shaft  twenty-two  feet  deep  and  turn  his 
legs  from  the  knees  downward,  because  the  top  of  the 
hill  where  they  wanted  to  bury  him  would  permit  a 
grave  only  132  feet  long.  And  there  it  is.  The 
mukam,  as  they  call  it,  looks  like  the  coping  around  a 
park,  being  a  narrow,  straight  line  of  masonry  about 
four  feet  wide  and  three  feet  high  and  prism-shaped  at 
the  top.  It  is  covered  with  green  cotton  cloth  (the 
sacred  color  of  the  Mohammedans)  and  ornamented 
with  embroidered  blankets  or  covers.  The  day  we 
were  there  several  candles  were  burning  at  the  head 
and  a  dozen  or  more  towels,  turbans,  shawls  and  pieces 
of  white  cloth  were  laid  across  the  tomb,  in  order  to 
absorb  its  sanctity.  These  articles,  after  having  lain 
upon  the  grave  for  a  certain  time,  become  sacred  and 
are  carried  to  mosques  in  the  villages  throughout  the 
country,  where  they  are  placed  with  great  reverence 
upon  the  altars  as  relics  of  the  patriarch  Noah.  Pil¬ 
grims  come  and  kiss  them  and  they  have  been  known 
to  work  miracles. 

Near  the  head  of  the  tomb  were  several  wreaths  of 
faded  flowers  which  faithful  devotees  had  placed  there 
to  secure  the  assistance  of  Noah  in  carrying  out  vows 
that  they  had  made.  As  an  old  woman  opened  the 
door  for  us  to  enter  the  long,  stone  building  which 
covers  the  mukam,  we  were  followed  in  by  a  lot  of 
naked  babies  with  fat  legs  and  black  eyes,  who  knelt 
reverently,  kissed  the  masonry  and  then  held  out  their 
hands  to  us,  begging  piteously  for  baksheesh. 

Think  of  kissing  the  tomb  of  Noah! 

One  big  lamp  with  a  large  reflector  hangs  in  the  cen¬ 
ter  of  the  room  and  gives  light  enough  for  evening 
services,  which  are  often  held  there  for  the  benefit  of 


1 54  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Mohammedan  pilgrims  and  persons  of  eminence  who 
come  long  distances  to  worship,  as  several  tablets  sus¬ 
pended  upon  the  walls  testify  by  their  inscriptions. 
Jew  and  Persian,  Greek  and  Roman,  and  the  various 
sects  of  Moslems  venerate  this  shrine,  which  has  been 
here  longer  than  history  can  relate.  Its  origin  and  the 
traditions  attached  to  it  can  be  traced  back  to  a  few 
centuries  after  Christ.  The  tradition  is  that  after  the 
flood  Noah  came  to  live  at  Kerak-nuh  and  died  in  this 
little  village,  152  feet  tall  and  950  years  old.  Besides 
this  shrine  there  are  other  traces  of  remote  antiquity  in 
the  mountains  near  by.  Numerous  rock-cut  tombs  of 
various  shapes  and  sizes  are  found  near  every  village 
and  in  lonely  gorges  where  human  habitations  have 
never  existed.  The  men  who  made  them  and  occupied 
them  are  not  known  and  cannot  be  traced.  It  is  cer¬ 
tain,  however,  that  they  were  there  at  the  time  of  the 
Roman  invasion. 

The  grave  of  Noah  is  particularly  holy  to  the  Druses, 
a  peculiar  sect  of  Moslems,  which  for  centuries  has 
been  contesting  with  the  Maronites  for  supremacy  in 
the  mountains  of  Lebanon.  They  are  said  to  be  the 
most  intelligent  and  progressive  of  all  the  tribes,  but 
their  aggressive  and  independent  disposition  has  kept 
them  almost  constantly  in  wars,  preventing  a  normal 
increase  in  population  and  prosperity.  They  are  hos¬ 
pitable  and  generous,  and  particularly  friendly  toward 
Protestants  and  Americans.  Many  of  their  children 
have  been  educated  in  the  American  schools,  and  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  most  influential  Druse  leaders  are  graduates 
of  the  American  college  at  Beirut.  They  encourage 
medical  and  educational  missionary  work  in  their  vil¬ 
lages,  appreciating  its  value  and  advantages,  but  few 
of  them  are  ever  converted  to  Christianity.  Some 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 


155 


people  contend  that  they  are  infidels,  and  that  they 
worship  idols,  but  that  is  not  true.  They  worship  in 
secluded  places  and  perform  mysterious  rites  and  never 
discuss  their  religious  views  with  outsiders  or  try  to 
make  converts.  They  seem  to  be  satisfied  with  their 
present  numerical  strength. 

Until  the  recent  war  between  the  Druses  and  Maron- 
ites,  their  doctrines  and  practices  were  well-kept 
secrets;  but  during  that  struggle  their  khulwats,  or 
temples,  were  plundered,  their  books  and  parapher¬ 
nalia  of  worship  seized  and  sold  to  curious  individuals. 
Most  of  it  went  to  museums  and  libraries  in  Europe, 
so  that  there  is  no  longer  any  mystery  about  their 
religion.  They  obtained  their  name  and  their  doc¬ 
trines  from  a  Persian  mystic  called  Durazy,  who  lived 
in  the  eleventh  century  and  organized  a  body  of 
fanatical  followers  into  a  compact,  resolute,  secret 
society,  which  has  survived  wars,  massacres,  persecu¬ 
tions  and  political  revolutions  for  a  thousand  years. 
They  are  not  more  than  100,000  souls,  and  their  influ¬ 
ence  is  due  to  their  intelligence,  enterprise,  their 
indomitable  courage  and  admirable  organization. 
They  will  not  accept  office  or  employment  of  any  sort 
from  the  government;  they  do  not  use  tobacco,  wine, 
coffee,  tea  or  other  artificial  beverages.  They  drink 
nothing  but  milk  and  water  and  eat  only  the  fruit  of 
their  own  farms  and  the  flesh  of  their  own  flocks. 
They  make  their  own  clothing,  their  own  tools  and 
are  almost  entirely  self-dependent  and  self-satisfied. 
They  have  rather  loose  marriage  relations,  their  men 
being  able  to  put  away  their  wives  for  any  whim  and 
take  others  as  their  fancy  pleases,  so  that  the  families 
are  very  much  confused.  A  woman  may  be  the  wife 
of  one  man  this  month  and  the  wife  of  another  six 


1 56  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


months  later,  and  she  may  have  the  care  of  the  chil¬ 
dren  of  several  of  her  women  neighbors,  as  the  off¬ 
spring  stay  with  the  father  when  the  parents  separate. 

Tne  Druses  are  farmers  and  cattle  breeders.  They 
seldom  engage  in  commercial  pursuits  or  mechanical 
industries,  and  they  will  not  pay  nor  accept  interest  on 
borrowed  money,  because  they  consider  it  contrary  to 
the  teachings  of  the  Bible  and  the  Koran,  both  of 
which  they  accept.  They  also  accept  both  Jesus  and 
Mohammed  as  messengers  of  God  and  ministers  of 
truth,  and  consider  them  one  and  the  same  person — 
the  embodiment  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  They  believe  in 
the  transmigration  of  souls  and  that  there  are  only  so 
many  souls  in  all  the  world,  which  pass  from  one  body 
to  another.  They  are  particularly  remorseless  in  the 
observance  of  the  lex  talionis ,  which  is  in  force  among 
all  the  tribes  of  the  Lebanon  Mountains  and  the  Arabs  of 
the  surrounding  desert.  The  right  of  blood  revenge 
has  been  recognized  in  Syria  ever  since  the  Mosaic  era, 
and  the  vendetta  is  practiced  as  rigidly  as  in  Corsica 
or  Sicily.  The  Druses  never  appeal  to  the  law  or  ask 
the  assistance  of  the  police.  They  themselves  punish 
people  who  offend  them  on  the  old  Mosaic  principle 
of  an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,  and  a  life  for 
a  life. 

Another  strange  and  bloodthirsty  sect,  numbering 
about  200,000,  are  the  Nusaireeyeh,  who  live  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  Lebanon  range  and  also  try  to 
keep  their  religious  doctrines  secret.  They  are  still 
supposed  to  worship  idols.  Women  are  denied  souls 
and  are  not  permitted  to  take  part  in  or  even  witness 
their  worship.  Polygamy  is  practiced  and,  as  among 
the  Druses,  a  man  can  change  his  wife  whenever  he 
likes.  In  their  dealings  with  others  both  the  Druses 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 


157 


and  the  Nusaireeyeh  are  said  to  be  fair  and  honorable. 

The  Arabic  Christians  belonging  to  the  Orthodox 
Greek  Church  in  Syria  number  about  150,000.  They 
are  under  the  patronage  and  protection  of  Russia  and 
have  a  patriarch  at  Athens.  The  Catholic  Greeks, 
so-called,  are  persons  of  Greek  origin  and  ancestry 
who  have  adopted  the  Roman  Catholic  faith.  The 
United  Greeks  are  still  another  sect.  They  have  a 
creed  of  their  own  very  similar  to  the  Armenian.  The 
Jacobites  are  a  body  of  dissenters  from  the  Greek 
Church,  who  have  adopted  the  name  and  doctrines  of 
Jacobus,  a  monk  of  the  Greek  Church  who  became 
bishop  of  Edessa  and  died  in  the  sixth  century.  There 
are  half  a  dozen  other  religious  sects  of  greater  or  less 
strength.  Palestine  seems  to  be  prolific  of  theological 
schisms.  The  Christians  are  divided  into  fourteen 
different  sects,  while  the  Mohammedans  are  divided 
into  only  three. 

Nobody  knows  the  population  of  Syria.  There 
never  has  been  a  census,  but  it  is  no  larger  than  it  was 
half  a  century  ago,  and  probably  less.  The  death  rate 
keeps  along  about  even  with  the  birth  rate,  and  the 
number  of  emigrants  that  have  come  into  this  country 
to  establish  colonies  has  been  exceeded  by  the  emi¬ 
grants  who  have  gone  to  North  and  South  America,  to 
Egypt  and  South  Africa,  and  the  ports  of  the  Mediter¬ 
ranean.  The  area  of  Syria  is  about  equal  to  that  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  population  is  variously  estimated 
at  1,000,000  to  2,000,000,  including  that  uncertain  and 
ever  changing  element,  the  Bedouins,  who  may  be  in 
Damascus  to-day  and  in  Egypt  a  month  hence. 
Damascus  is  the  largest  city,  having  about  250,000 
people;  Beirut,  120,000;  Aleppo,  100,000;  Hums, 
60,000;  Hama,  55,000;  Jerusalem,  50,000;  Tripoli, 


158  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


35,000;  Jaffa,  10,000;  Haifa,  10,000;  Sidon,  10,000. 
According  to  the  best  authorities  there  are  only  60,000 
Jews  in  Palestine  and  10,000  Protestants. 

There  are  no  trolley  cars  in  Turkey  or  in  any  part 
of  Palestine,  and  the  sultan  will  grant  no  concessions 
for  the  use  of  electric  power  in  any  form  or  for  any 
purpose.  He  is  unalterably  opposed  to  electric  cars, 
electric  lights  and  telephones.  He  has  granted  no 
concessions  for  railways  to  Mecca,  and  will  grant 
none.  He  is  slowly  building  a  railway  of  his  own  in 
that  direction.  It  connects  with  the  Beirut  Railway 
at  Damascus  and  follows  the  watershed  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Lebanon  Mountains  through  the  desert 
east  of  the  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea  for  a  distance  of 
about  1,500  miles,  via  Medina,  the  burial  place  of 
Mohammed,  to  Mecca,  the  Holy  City. 

The  track  has  been  extended  from  Damascus  as  far 
as  opposite  the  Dead  Sea,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000,000, 
and  trains  are  now  running  about  150  miles.  The  right 
of  way  has  been  graded  about  100  miles  further  by 
soldiers  under  the  direction  of  a  German  engineer,  and 
iron  ties  and  rails  have  been  scattered  along  the  track; 
but  thus  far  no  bridges  have  been  built  and  little  progress 
has  been  made  for  several  years  because  of  the  lack  of 
funds.  A  German  company  has  offered  to  take  over 
the  enterprise  and  complete  the  road  to  Mecca,  but  the 
sultan  is  unwilling  to  intrust  it  to  foreign  hands,  for 
religious  reasons  as  well  as  for  national  jealousy. 
Jhere  are  no  towns  of  any  importance  on  the  route 
selected,  and  there  will  be  no  local  business.  The 
only  traffic  will  be  the  transportation  of  pilgrims,  who 
now  vary  between  300,000  and  400,000  a  year.  It  is 
believed  that  the  railway  would  encourage  pilgrimages 
and  raise  the  total  above  500,000.  But,  estimating  the 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 


159 


receipts  on  that  basis,  they  would  not  exceed  $2,500,- 
000  a  year,  and  would  not  pay  the  interest  on  the  cost 
of  construction,  to  say  nothing  of  maintenance  and 
operating  expenses;  so  the  enterprise  is  not  a  tempting 
investment,  and  the  only  merit  in  it  as  a  business 
proposition  is  the  possibility  of  a  subsidy  from  the 
Turkish  government,  which,  as  you  know,  is  usually 
willing  to  borrow  money,  but  never  willing  to  pay  it. 
It  is  a  narrow  gauge,  with  French  rolling  stock,  the 
grades  are  not  bad  and  construction  work  will  not  be 
more  expensive  than  the  average  on  our  prairies,  but 
all  material  will  have  to  be  imported  from  Europe; 
nothing  but  iron  ties  can  be  used,  and  all  fuel  and  other 
supplies  of  operation  will  be  exceedingly  expensive. 
The  most  difficult  obstacle  to  overcome  is  the  lack  of 
water.  There  are  very  few  streams  on  the  route,  and 
nearly  every  one  of  them  is  dry  more  than  half  the 
year.  The  springs  are  few  and  only  capable  of  sus¬ 
taining  the  present  traffic  by  caravans  of  camels. 

Dr.  Schumaker,  an  American  engineer,  thinks  it  is 
possible  to  obtain  water  by  sinking  artesian  wells, 
which  has  never  been  attempted.  He  believes  there  is 
an  artesian  basin  under  that  part  of  the  desert.  Nu¬ 
merous  ice-cold  springs  are  to  be  found  in  the  mountain 
gorges.  The  rainfall  is  considerable,  but  is  confined  to 
a  few  months  in  the  year,  and  the  water  disappears  as 
soon  as  it  strikes  the  earth,  rushing  into  rocky  gorges 
or  percolating  through  the  thirsty  sands.  It  must  go 
somewhere,  and  there  is  no  apparent  drainage.  Dr. 
Schumaker,  therefore,  thinks  there  must  be  a  subter¬ 
ranean  basin  or  reservoir  to  receive  it,  of  which  the 
springs  are  evidence,  and  that  wells  and  steam  pumps 
might  redeem  a  large  part  of  the  country  as  well  as 
make  a  railroad  possible.  But  the  policy  of  the  sul- 


160  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tan’s  government  is  to  tear  down  and  not  to  build  up. 
Public  enterprises  are  not  encouraged  in  Turkey,  but 
are  resisted  in  every  direction,  and,  although,  as  I  have 
suggested,  there  is  a  religious  motive  back  of  the 
Mecca  Railway  which  appeals  strongly  to  the  fanatical 
mind  of  the  sultan,  there  is  no  hope  for  an  immediate 
consummation  of  the  project,  for  other  reasons  as  well 
as  those  named. 

The  Arabs  in  the  country  west  of  the  Jordan,  and 
particularly  those  farther  south,  in  Arabia,  have  con¬ 
ceived  the  idea  that  this  road  is  not  alone  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  carrying  pilgrims  to  Mecca.  They  fear  that  it 
is  intended  as  a  piece  of  military  strategy  in  order  that 
the  sultan  may  send  troops  into  their  country  in  case 
any  disagreement  should  arise.  They  fear  also  that  it 
will  deprive  them  of  a  large  income  they  now  receive 
for  protecting  the  caravans  of  pilgrims  that  pass  over 
the  desert. 

Several  of  the  Arabian  sheiks  have  powerful  tribes 
behind  them,  and  for  generations  have  been  suspected 
of  disloyalty  to  the  Turkish  government.  The  sultan 
has  cleverly  avoided  a  collision  with  them,  but  has 
never  been  successful  in  bringing  them  to  his  support. 
They  are  practically  independent  and  levy  blackmail 
upon  all  commerce  and  travelers.  Even  the  poorest 
pilgrim  is  required  to  pay  them  a  fee  for  their  theoret¬ 
ical  protection  against  robbers,  although  it  is  notorious 
that  the  only  robbers  belong  to  the  same  bands.  Some 
years  ago  the  sultan  offered  them  a  subsidy  amounting 
to  a  few  thousand  dollars  a  year  each  if  they  would 
allow  pilgrims  to  pass  on  to  Mecca  without  interfer¬ 
ence,  and  the  agreement  has  been  generally  observed 
so  far  as  the  poorer  classes  of  pilgrims  are  concerned, 
but  the  rich  are  still  required  to  pay.  The  sheiks 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH 


161 


understand  very  well  that  when  the  railway  is  com¬ 
pleted  they  can  no  longer  levy  blackmail.  The  sultan 
sent  a  commission  down  to  confer  with  them,  and  the 
result  of  the  conference  was  not  satisfactory.  It  was 
disclosed  that  hostility  to  him  extended  throughout 
all  Arabia,  and  that  the  only  tie  between  him  and  his 
subjects  in  that  part  of  the  empire  is  due  to  his  posi¬ 
tion  as  the  head  of  the  Moslem  church. 

And  even  in  that  respect  their  loyalty  is  gradually 
weakening.  As  the  light  breaks  in  upon  the  minds  of 
the  Arabs  they  begin  to  recognize  the  weakness  and 
defects  of  the  Turkish  government  and  compare  their 
condition  with  that  of  the  people  of  other  countries 
living  under  different  forms  of  government.  The 
development  of  Egypt  has  been  an  object  lesson  by 
which  they  have  been  greatly  impressed,  and  although 
they  know  very  little  of  the  world  beyond  the  sands 
of  their  desert  the  seeds  of  dissatisfaction  have  been 
sown  and  the  spirit  of  hostility  is  gradually  invading 
the  entire  Arab  race. 

Two  years  ago  a  movement  was  inaugurated  in 
Arabia  to  deprive  tne  sultan  of  the  Caliphate,  that  is, 
the  headship  of  the  church  of  Islam,  on  the  ground 
that  he  is  an  alien,  a  Tartar,  and  does  not  even  belong 
to  the  race  of  Mohammed,  the  founder  of  the  church. 
This  propaganda  has  been  going  on  quietly  by  the 
publication  of  pamphlets  containing  the  history  of  the 
church  and  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  showing  that 
Abdul  Hamid  is  a  foreigner  and  not  an  Arab;  that  his 
ancestor,  Othman,  the  founder  of  the  present  dynasty, 
seized  the  Caliphate  by  force,  overthrew  the  Arab 
authority,  was  an  invader  of  their  land,  and  that  his  suc¬ 
cessors  did  not  accept  the  religion  of  Mohammed  for 
several  centuries  after  they  came  into  power.  This 


162  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


movement  originated  in  Egypt,  and  is  supposed  to  be 
assisted  by  contributions  of  money  from  Englishmen. 
The  Moslems  of  India  are  also  promoting  it,  and  its 
agents  are  working  among  the  pilgrims  who  come  to 
Mecca.  The  sultan  is  powerless  to  do  anything,  and 
if  the  rebels  should  find  a  competent  leader  it  would 
become  as  dangerous  as  the  insurrections  of  the  Chris¬ 
tians  in  the  Balkan  provinces.  The  Sherif  of  Mecca  is 
the  head  of  the  Islam  church  in  Arabia.  He  is  nomi¬ 
nated  by  the  sultan>  and  reports  directly  to  him,  hence 
he  is  supposed  to  be  loyal,  but  he  is  not  a  strong  man, 
and  his  influence  will  not  be  of  importance  to  either 
side. 

There  are  sentimental  objections  to  all  innovations 
in  Palestine.  People  consider  this  holy  ground,  and 
archeologists,  artists,  Biblical  students  and  others 
interested  in  its  antiquities  and  historical  features  are 
accustomed  to  deplore  the  construction  of  railways 
and  the  introduction  of  modern  conveniences.  They 
would  prefer  to  preserve  all  the  ancient  conditions 
and  features  and  to  restore  the  land  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible  to  the  condition  it  was  at  the  time  of  Moses, 
or  at  least  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era. 
If  such  a  plan  could  be  consummated;  if  Palestine 
could  be  preserved  and  protected  as  a  great  religious 
and  Biblical  museum,  as  a  permanent  monument  and 
remembrance  of  the  Saviour,  the  prophets  and  the 
patriarchs,  it  would  be  a  blessed  undertaking,  but  such 
a  thing  is  not  possible  under  the  domination  of  the 
Turks.  Their  mission  is  to  destroy  and  not  to  pre¬ 
serve.  Their  determination  is  to  extort  every  penny 
that  can  be  wrung  from  an  oppressed  and  wretched 
people,  and  whatever  is  sacred  to  the  Christian  world 
is  offensive  to  them. 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH  163 

If  the  powers  of  Europe  should  take  possession  of 
Palestine  and  place  it  under  the  protection  of  England, 
Germany,  Austria,  or  any  other  civilized  nation,  it  would 
be  the  crowning  glory  of  the  twentieth  century.  Great 
Britain  is  to  blame  for  present  conditions  from  the 
Danube  to  the  Nile.  We  know  what  has  been  done 
for  the  reform  of  the  administration  and  the  restora¬ 
tion  of  prosperity  in  Bosnia,  Bulgaria  and  in  Egypt, 
and  the  people  of  Palestine  might  be  enjoying  the 
same  blessings  at  this  moment  but  for  the  selfishness 
of  the  British  government.  Lord  Salisbury  was  afraid 
that  if  the  Turk  went  out  the  Russian  would  come  in, 
and  therefore  supported  and  protected  the  Turk  with  all 
his  cruelty  and  crime,  rather  than  permit  the  possibility 
of  Russian  advancement.  Germany,  too,  is  a  Christian 
nation,  and  yet  she  allows  Bethlehem,  Calvary,  the 
Mount  of  Olives  and  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  to 
remain  under  the  control  of  the  Moslems,  and  the  other 
holy  places  sanctified  by  the  footsteps  of  the  Saviour  to 
be  the  scene  of  continual  outrage  and  extortion. 

However,  Germany  is  working  slowly  but  surely  to 
the  bottom  of  affairs  in  this  part  of  the  world,  and 
every  man  who  is  interested  in  the  peace  and  the 
protection  of  the  Holy  Land  should  rejoice  that  such 
is  the  case.  Ninety-nine  per  cent  of  the  world  care 
nothing  for  the  political  problem  involved.  They  are 
indifferent  whether  John  Bull  or  the  czar  or  kaiser 
achieves  a  triumph;  they  do  not  care  who  does  it  as 
long  as  it  is  done,  and  the  prayer  of  all  Christendom 
should  be  for  the  success  of  the  kaiser’s  plans, 
although  we  do  not  know  exactly  what  they  are  or 
how  far  they  extend. 

Wherever  a  German  has  driven  a  stake  in  Palestine 
there  is  a  bright  spot;  there  is  comfort,  cleanliness  and 


1 64  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


improvement  of  every  kind,  and  the  German  colonies 
scattered  through  that  country  are  bits  of  paradise  com¬ 
pared  with  the  conditions  that  surround  them.  The 
Psalmist  who  exults  over  the  oases  in  the  desert,  the 
Song  of  Solomon  that  extol  the  springs  in  dry  places, 
express  the  feeling  of  modern  travelers  when  they  find 
a  German  settlement,  and  pray  for  the  day  to  come 
when  the  entire  area  of  Palestine  may  be  given  over  to 
their  control.  Every  other  nationality — the  French, 
the  Italians,  the  Russians,  the  Greeks,  and  the  Jews — 
have  had  their  turn  but  have  failed.  The  Germans  are 
successful  everywhere. 

The  proposed  railroad  from  Damascus  to  Mecca  fol¬ 
lows  very  closely  the  ancient  caravan  road  to  Egypt, 
the  most  famous  pathway  in  the  world.  Abraham  and 
the  patriarchs  before  the  Israelites  left  Egypt, 
Rameses,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Sennacherib,  Cambyses, 
Darius,  Alexander  the  Great,  Pompey,  Titus,  Saladin, 
Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart,  Napoleon  Bonaparte  and 
others  of  the  world’s  great  heroes  have  led  armies 
over  it.  The  chariot  wheels  of  Saul  and  Jonathan, 
Joab  and  Jeroboam,  Ahab  and  Deborah  have  stirred  its 
heated  sands.  David  followed  it  northward  in  his  war 
of  conquest,  the  Assyrian  hosts  followed  it  southward 
to  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem;  God’s  chosen  people 
passed  over  it  on  their  way  to  captivity  at  Babylon, 
and  all  the  great  migrations  in  Biblical  history  were 
centered  upon  that  highway  and  its  branches.  Near 
the  town  of  Dothan  is  the  pit  into  which  Joseph  was 
cast  by  his  brethren.  “And  lifting  up  their  eyes  they 
beheld  a  company  of  Ishmaelites  from  Gilead,  with 
their  camels,  bearing  spices  and  balm  and  myrrh,  to 
carry  it  down  to  Egypt.’  *  “And  they  drew  and  lifted 
up  Joseph  out  of  the  pit,  and  sold  Joseph  to  the  Ish- 


TO  THE  GRAVE  OF  NOAH  165 

maelites  for  twenty  pieces  of  silver,  and  they  brought 
Joseph  into  Egypt.”  It  would  be  interesting  for  any¬ 
one  to  pass  over  this  historic  trail  if  it  were  not 
such  a  tedious,  dreary  and  tiresome  journey,  taking 
forty-four  days  to  make  the  fifteen  hundred  miles,  with 
scarcely  a  green  thing  for  the  entire  distance. 


VIII 

The  Wonderful  Walls  of  Baalbek 


167 


BAALBECK. 


VIII 

THE  WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK 

To  architects  and  archeologists  especially  and  to  all 
the  world  in  general  few  places  are  more  interesting 
than  the  little  town  of  Baalbek  for  several  reasons.  It 
is  supposed  to  have  been  founded  by  Cain,  the  son  of 
Adam,  when  he  fled  from  the  murder  of  Abel,  and 
there  he  erected  the  first  of  all  fortifications  to  defend 
himself  against  possible  pursuers.  He  named  the 
place  in  honor  of  his  son  Henok  and  peopled  it  with 
giants,  who,  from  their  stronghold,  carried  on  warfare 
against  the  inhabitants  of  the  surrounding  country  until 
they  perished  in  the  flood.  Nimrod,  “the  mighty 
hunter,”  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  at  Baalbek,  and 
certain  historians  identify  the  place  with  the  Scriptural 
Babel,  where  that  audacious  man  attempted  to  defy 
the  gods  and  reach  heaven  by  means  of  a  high  tower. 
Nimrod  has  the  credit  of  being  the  founder  of  idolatry 
and  Baalbek  the  scene  of  the  first  worship  of  idols. 
There  are  other  interesting  traditions  and  legends  con¬ 
nected  with  the  town,  and  the  extraordinary  size  of  the 
blocks  of  stone  used  in  the  construction  of  the  temples 
to  Baal  and  other  heathen  gods  has  excited  the  interest 
of  mathematicians  and  archeologists  of  all  generations 
who  have  exercised  their  ingenuity  in  theorizing  about 
the  physical  phenomena  they  find  here.  One  theory 
is  that  the  temples  at  Baalbek  were  constructed  in  the 
days  of  the  mastodon,  because  no  other  animals  could 
possibly  have  hauled  the  mighty  pillars  from  the  quarry 
to  their  present  places  in  the  walls. 

Abraham  spent  some  time  at  Baalbek,  and  other 
patriarchs,  prophets,  judges  and  kings  made  it  their 

j6q 


170  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


home.  Baalbek  was  half  way  between  Tyre  and  Pal¬ 
myra,  and  was  one  of  the  depots  for  the  trade  which 
Solomon  established  between  the  Euphrates  and 
Egypt.  As  Damascus  refused  to  submit  to  his  domi¬ 
nation,  that  wise  king  of  Israel  erected  here  a  rival 
city,  and,  in  order  to  please  his  concubines,  built  a 
splendid  castle  and  a  magnificent  temple  in  honor  of 
Baal,  in  the  town  which  bore  the  name  of  that  god. 
Baalbek  means  “seat  of  Baal,”  and  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  headquarters  of  his  worshipers,  who  were 
mostly  Phoenicians  and  Canaanites.  Baal  was  the 
solar  divinity,  the  source  of  all  life  and  happiness,  and 
it  was  perfectly  natural  that  the  ancients  should 
worship  the  sun,  for  obvious  reasons.  The  customs, 
the  religious  theories  and  the  forms  of  worship  of  the 
Phoenicians  are  strikingly  similar  to  those  of  the 
Aztecs  in  Mexico  and  the  Incas  in  Peru,  and  people 
find  in  that  fact  confirmation  of  the  theory  that  the 
American  continent  was  settled  by  the  far-sailing 
inhabitants  of  Baalbek  and  the  surrounding  country 
before  the  age  of  Solomon.  While  nobody  can  prove 
the  truth  or  the  fallacy  of  this  proposition,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  resemblances  pointed  out  in  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  races  that  inhabited  this  region  and 
those  that  lived  in  the  mountains  of  Mexico  and  the 
Andes  was  doubtless  due  to  a  similarity  of  conditions 
rather  than  a  relationship  of  race.  If  you  place  two 
men  in  the  same  surroundings,  with  the  same  limita¬ 
tions  and  the  same  facilities,  at  the  uttermost  parts  of 
the  earth,  they  will  adjust  themselves  to  their  environ¬ 
ment  in  a  similar  manner.  This  great  law  of  nature 
will  account  for  the  striking  likenesses  to  Oriental 
types  and  habits  that  we  find  among  the  Incas  and  the 
Aztecs. 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  171 

During  all  the  discussion  which  has  continued  for 
thousands  of  years  the  monstrous  blocks  of  limestone 
imbedded  in  these  superb  monuments  have  preserved 
their  secrets,  indifferent  to  the  curiosity  and  unmoved 
by  the  admiration  of  mankind  The  most  plausible 
theory  is  that  the  temples  and  fortresses  were  origi¬ 
nally  constructed  by  the  Phoenicians  who  preceded  the 
Canaanites  in  this  country  and  lived  here  immediately 
after  the  flood.  They  were  masters  of  all  mechanical 
arts;  they  were  the  most  daring  and  enterprising  of 
pioneers;  they  penetrated  all  quarters  of  the  world; 
they  developed  mines;  they  supplied  gold,  silver,  cop¬ 
per  and  lumber  to  the  nations  that  surrounded  them, 
and  their  energy  and  industry  left  impressions  upon 
every  territory  they  touched.  You  may  see  their 
traces  in  Spain,  in  Italy,  in  Asia  and  Africa;  it  is  per¬ 
fectly  natural  that  this  mighty  race  should  erect  the 
greatest  of  all  temples  to  their  own  god  and  embellish 
it  with  surpassing  magnificence  and  splendor. 

The  quarries  from  which  the  material  was  taken  are 
located  not  far  from  the  town — less  than  a  mile  dis¬ 
tant,  and  extend  along  the  base  of  the  mountain  for  a 
considerable  distance.  Some  of  them  were  worked  to 
so  great  a  depth  as  to  suggest  that  they  must  have  fur¬ 
nished  material  for  more  buildings  than  the  temples 
and  palaces  of  Baalbek,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that 
stone  was  shipped  from  them  to  Palmyra,  Damascus 
and  other  cities  in  the  neighborhood.  The  material 
for  modern  buildings  in  the  town  comes  from  another 
quarry  farther  south,  where  the  limestone  is  white, 
soft  and  easily  wrought. 

The  ancient  quarries  show  clearly  the  enormous 
thickness  of  the  rock  formation  and  the  peculiar  con¬ 
ditions  which  enabled  the  builders  to  cut  out  blocks  of 


172  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


any  desired  dimensions.  The  greater  problem  is  their 
method  of  transportation.  Work  in  the  quarries  seems 
to  have  been  suddenly  suspended,  and  the  largest 
block  of  stone  ever  known  to  have  been  quarried  now 
lies  near  the  quarry,  where  it  appears  to  have  been  left 
abruptly  and  for  some  reason  which  we  cannot  explain. 
It  is  seventy  feet  long,  fourteen  feet  thick  in  one 
direction  and  nearly  fifteen  in  the  other,  measuring 
13,500  cubic  feet  and  weighing,  according  to  the  esti¬ 
mates,  1,500  tons.  This  great  block  was  detached 
from  the  mass  of  natural  rock  in  the  quarry,  and  a 
space  of  about  six  inches  seems  to  have  been  cut  away 
to  separate  it.  It  was  rough-hewn,  and  ready  to  be 
moved,  but  the  place  to  which  it  was  to  be  taken  and 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended  are  unknown. 
It  is  said  to  be  the  largest  piece  of  artificially  detached 
stone  in  the  world. 

In  the  walls  of  the  temple,  which  stands  upon  the 
summit  of  the  Acropolis,  and  was  undoubtedly  erected 
for  the  worship  of  the  sun,  are  other  cyclopian  blocks 
of  similar  size.  The  keystone  of  one  of  the  arches  by 
which  the  temple  was  entered  is  a  monument  of  itself, 
being  eleven  feet  high,  twelve  feet  thick,  eight  feet 
broad  and  weighing  about  seventy  tons.  In  1751  it 
was  perfect,  but  the  earthquake  of  1759  fractured  the 
massive  monoliths  which  served  as  door  posts,  and 
shook  the  lofty  architrave  so  rudely  that  this  ponder¬ 
ous  keystone  slipped  from  its  original  position  and 
sank  about  three  feet.  There  it  remained  suspended 
for  nearly  a  century  and  a  half,  until  a  German 
engineer,  by  means  of  a  most  ingenious  device, 
restored  it  to  its  former  position  and  braced  it  so  firmly 
that  it  may  outlive  many  more  centuries. 

In  the  outside  wall,  laid  so  closely  that  a  needle 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  173 

could  not  be  inserted  between  them,  are  other  marvel¬ 
ous  blocks  of  stone.  The  largest  is  sixty-four  feet  in 
length,  the  next  sixty-three  feet  eight  inches,  and  the 
third  sixty-three  feet.  They  are  all  of  the  same  dimen¬ 
sions  otherwise,  being  thirteen  feet  square.  Each 
measures  more  than  32,000  cubic  feet  and  must  weigh 
nearly  1,000  tons,  the  largest  masses  of  stone  ever 
handled  by  man.  They  were  cut  and  polished  with 
the  same  exactness  and  care  that  was  devoted  to  the 
smaller  blocks  in  the  wall.  Stones  measuring  thirty 
and  thirty-five  feet  in  length  and  twelve  and  thirteen 
feet  square  are  common,  and  those  measuring  twenty, 
twenty-two  and  twenty-four  feet  by  thirteen  are 
scarcely  noticed. 

Engineers  are  puzzled  when  they  consider  the  means 
by  which  the  cyclopian  blocks  were  brought  from  the 
quarry  and  lifted  to  the  elevated  position  they  occupy, 
for  some  of  them  are  placed  in  the  walls  a  hundred  feet 
from  the  ground.  It  is  claimed  by  many  archeologists 
that  the  wall  was  built  before  the  invention  of  the  der¬ 
rick  or  the  lever.  The  most  popular  theory  is  that 
they  were  brought  on  rollers  up  an  inclined  plane  of 
earth  which  was  built  higher  as  the  wall  grew.  One 
can  speculate  as  much  as  he  likes  and  perhaps  may 
approach  the  truth,  but  there  is  a  permanent  disap¬ 
pointment  in  realizing  that  the  controversy  can  never 
be  settled. 

It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  describe  the  temples  of 
Baalbek,  because  books  have  been  written  about 
them.  A  mere  tourist,  a  visitor  for  a  day,  can  only 
express  his  amazement  and  admiration,  and  leave 
the  details  to  be  told  by  those  who  have  given  them 
close  and  careful  study.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  these 
ruins  are  the  most  gigantic  examples  of  ancient  archi- 


i74  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tecture  in  existence,  and  that  the  Temple  of  the  Sun  is 
the  largest,  the  most  perfect  and  probably  was  the 
most  magnificent  ever  erected.  It  was  surpassed  in 
beauty  but  not  in  size  by  the  Pantheon  at  Athens,  but 
nowhere  else  was  there  anything  to  approach  it.  The 
Emperor  Constantine  adapted  the  heathen  temple  to 
Christian  worship.  When  the  Mohammedans  obtained 
possession  of  the  country  they  converted  them  into 
mosques,  and  so  races  and  the  religions  have  succeeded 
each  other — Phoenician,  Canaanite,  Hebrew,  Assyr¬ 
ian,  Greek,  Roman,  Saracen,  Christian,  Tartar  and 
Turk — they  have  all  been  here  and  each  has  worshiped 
his  own  god  within  their  walls. 

During  the  last  thirteen  centuries  the  Turks  have 
used  the  temple  as  a  fortress  and  have  destroyed  and 
defaced  much  of  its  architectural  and  artistic  beauty. 
The  convulsions  of  nature  have  also  done  great  damage. 
The  walls  have  been  overthrown,  the  roofs  have  fallen 
in,  columns  and  pillars  have  been  shattered,  but  the 
symmetrical  proportions,  the  boldness  of  the  plan  of 
construction,  the  delicate  designs  of  the  decorations 
can  still  be  recognized  as  well  as  the  vast  dimensions. 

The  ruins  are  now  being  excavated  and  restored  by 
the  munificence  of  the  emperor  of  Germany,  who  has 
exercised  his  political  influence  with  the  sultan  to 
secure  permission  for  his  archeologists  to  work  among 
them.  The  kaiser  was  there  in  1898,  and  his  quick  per¬ 
ception  recognized  an  opportunity  that  had  been 
denied  to  other  men.  He  erected  in  the  Temple  of 
the  Sun  a  large  tablet,  with  an  inscription  in  German 
and  Turkish  testifying  to  his  unchangeable  friendship 
and  his  high  regard  for  Abdul  Hamid  and  his  pleasure 
at  visiting  the  ruins.  Immediately  upon  his  return  to 
Berlin  the  German  ambassador  to  Constantinople  was 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  175 

instructed  to  obtain  a  firmin  to  enable  the  archeolo¬ 
gists  to  commence  excavations.  It  is  probable  that  no 
one  else  could  have  obtained  the  permission,  but  the 
representatives  of  the  emperor  have  been  engaged  there 
for  two  years,  employing  160  men,  and  have  done  an 
immense  amount  of  valuable  work.  They  have  exca¬ 
vated  to  the  floors  temples  which  were  half  filled  with 
rubbish.  They  have  cleared  the  walls  to  their  founda¬ 
tions;  they  have  restored  columns  and  pillars  that  had 
fallen  in  many  places;  they  have  built  new  masonry  to 
sustain  old  arches;  have  repaired  much  of  the  damage 
done  by  the  earthquakes  and  have  removed  all  Arab 
construction  so  far  as  possible.  It  would  require  sev¬ 
eral  chapters  to  describe  all  that  they  have  accom¬ 
plished,  and  it  has  been  done  in  a  careful,  conscientious 
manner.  To  restore  and  to  preserve  one  of  the  grand¬ 
est  relics  of  ancient  civilization  is  the  object  Emperor 
William  desires  to  accomplish,  and  the  duty  has  been 
intrusted  to  most  competent  hands. 

Professor  Bruno  Schultz  and  Dr.  Heinrich  Kohl 
arrived  at  Baalbek  while  I  was  there  to  relieve  the 
former  superintendent  and  custodian.  They  came 
from  the  University  of  Berlin,  and  when  they  presented 
their  credentials  to  the  governor-general  at  Damascus 
upon  arrival,  that  functionary  and  all  his  household 
bowed  their  heads  to  the  floor  whenever  the  great 
name  of  the  kaiser  was  spoken.  The  governor-gen¬ 
eral  placed  the  whole  country  at  the  disposition  of  the 
scientists,  gave  orders  to  the  military  for  their  protec¬ 
tion,  and  commanded  the  local  officials  to  supply  all 
their  wants;  for  is  not  the  German  kaiser  the  best 
friend  of  the  Turks? 

The  governor-general  was  very  sorrowful.  He  had 
just  lost  his  favorite  wife  and  was  overtaken  with  grief. 


1 76  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  sultan  endeavored  to  console  him  by  sending  to 
Damascus  a  new  wife  from  the  imperial  harem,  but  the 
widower  refused  to  be  comforted.  The  governor-gen¬ 
eral  of  Damascus  was  formerly  governor  of  Constanti¬ 
nople,  and  is  accused  of  having  given  the  order  for  the 
massacre  of  the  Armenians  in  1896.  The  European 
powers  made  a  united  demand  for  his  punishment.  He 
was  removed  from  his  office  in  disgrace,  and  as  soon  as 
the  representatives  of  the  powers  were  engaged  with 
other  affairs  was  promoted  to  a  more  important  post. 
Everybody  says  that  he  is  fairly  honest,  according  to 
the  Turkish  standard,  and  would  be  a  good  official  if 
he  were  not  so  good  a  Moslem,  and  such  a  fanatic  in 
religious  affairs. 

Along  the  way  to  Baalbek  is  a  village  named  in 
honor  of  the  prophet  Elijah,  which  claims  to  be  his 
birthplace.  It  is  surrounded  by  beautiful  vineyards 
and  mulberry  groves  and  has  a  Protestant  chapel  and 
school.  Protestant  chapels  are  numerous  in  that  part  of 
Syria,  and  are  quite  as  interesting  and  inspiring  as  the 
caves  and  shrines  and  monuments  that  mark  the  sup¬ 
posed  scenes  of  Scripture  history. 

At  Hoba,  it  is  said,  Abraham  overcame  and  cut  to 
pieces  the  kings  who  had  captured  his  nephew  Lot, 
and  several  other  places  have  been  identified  with  his 
career  in  that  country.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Abra¬ 
ham  lived  there  at  one  time;  there  is  no  question  that 
his  flocks  and  herds  were  pastured  upon  the  slopes  of 
both  the  ranges  of  Lebanon;  he  lived  a  nomadic  life 
like  the  Bedouins  we  saw  in  every  direction,  and  he 
camped  in  the  shade  of  the  trees  and  drank  at  the 
spring  where  we  followed  his  example. 

There  is  no  doubt,  I  say,  of  those  facts,  and  it  is 
hardly  worth  while  to  dispute  the  legends  of  the  monks 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  177 


and  the  Moslem  moulahs  who  have  located  with  great 
care  the  scene  of  every  incident  in  Scripture  history. 
In  many  cases  they  have  shown  great  patience  and 
much  sagacity;  in  others  they  have  either  been  led 
astray  by  their  enthusiasm  or  their  anxiety  to  accom¬ 
modate  the  convenience  of  the  pilgrims  and  the  pub¬ 
lic,  for  any  child  might  see  that  the  pretensions  are 
absurd. 

Most  of  the  sacred  places  associated  with  the  patri¬ 
archs  of  the  Old  Testament  are  owned  and  occupied  by 
the  Mohammedans,  who  are  generous  and  considerate 
toward  strangers.  The  Mohammedans  seem  to  have 
preserved  the  historic  places  in  their  charge  because  of 
their  sanctity. 

The  town  of  Zahle  is  a  sort  of  Christian  headquarters 
and  the  residence  of  two  bishops.  There  are  thirteen 
Christian  churches,  including  one  Protestant,  two  large 
convents  and  seventeen  schools,  conducted  by  mission¬ 
aries  of  different  denominations,  three  by  American 
and  English  missionaries.  Zahle  is  a  modern  town  of 
about  20,000  inhabitants,  with  considerable  wealth  and 
commerce  and  the  only  tannery  in  Syria. 

Baalbek  also  has  a  number  of  interesting  schools, 
maintained  by  English  and  American  Protestants, 
Roman  Catholics,  Greek  Catholics  and  other  denomi¬ 
nations.  It  is  quite  startling  in  that  venerable  place  to 
hear  yourself  addressed  in  English  by  the  children, 
and  some  of  them  utilize  the  accomplishments  they 
have  acquired  at  the  American  missionary  schools  to 
pester  tourists  to  purchase  relics  supposed  to  have 
been  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  temples,  coarse  em¬ 
broideries  made  with  their  own  hands  and  other 
articles  that  sane  people  do  not  want.  But  I  suppose 
that  if  we  are  never  called  upon  to  endure  any  greater 


178  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


annoyances  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  forgive  them. 
Money  is  scarce  up  in  that  country,  and  every  Ameri¬ 
can  and  Englishman  is  supposed  to  be  rich.  If  they 
are  not,  what  would  they  be  doing  so  far  away  from 
home?  Acting  upon  such  assumptions  the  natives  of 
all  that  section  exercise  their  talents  to  get  a  living 
out  of  the  tourists. 

At  an  elevation  of  about  6,000  feet  above  the  sea,  on 
the  left  of  the  road  to  Baalbek,  is  a  group  of  the 
noblest  specimens  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  in  the 
East,  which  are  believed  to  be  thousands  of  years  old 
and  the  remnant  of  the  far-famed  cedars  of  Lebanon, 
of  which  David  and  Solomon  sang,  and  from  which 
came  the  timbers  for  the  temple.  Djebel-el-Arz  (the 
mountain  of  the  cedars),  which  rises  7,770  feet,  is 
generally  covered  with  snow,  and  the  day  we  were 
there  it  was  draped  in  a  mantle  of  unusual  thickness, 
which  trailed  away  into  the  forest  and  the  foothills;  for 
there  was  a  heavy  rain  and  a  sharp  frost  the  night 
before.  The  term  Mount  Lebanon  is  misleading. 
There  is  no  peak  of  that  name,  which  is  applied  to  a 
lofty  range  with  several  conspicuous  summits  extend¬ 
ing  about  one  hundred  miles  from  the  neighborhood  of 
Damascus  to  the  sea  and  being  about  twenty-five  miles 
broad  from  base  to  base.  The  most  elevated  peaks 
are  those  that  I  have  just  named,  and  Mount  Hermon, 
9,383  feet;  Dahar-el-Kudhib,  10,020  feet;  Jebel-Mak- 
mal,  10,016;  El  Miskych,  10,037;  Fum-el-Mizab,  9,900; 
Sannin,  8,900  feet.  These  peaks  are  broken  by  rugged 
ridges,  precipitous  cliffs  and  deep  gorges.  A  parallel 
range,  which  does  not  reach  so  great  a  height,  is 
known  as  Anti-Lebanon. 

When  the  word  Lebanon  is  used  the  higher  range  is 
meant,  and  it  is  referred  to  frequently  in  the  Bible. 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  179 


You  will  remember  that  Moses  begged  earnestly  of 
Jehovah,  “Let  me  go  over,  I  pray  thee,  and  see  the 
good  land  that  is  beyond  Jordan  and  that  goodly 
Mountain  Lebanon,”  of  which  he  had  doubtless  heard 
in  Egypt,  for  its  glory  extended  over  the  entire  world. 
The  patriarchs  and  the  poets  of  the  Bible  praised 
Lebanon  and  sang  of  its  forests,  the  snows  that 
crowned  its  summits  and  the  streams  that  bathe  its 
feet.  The  Romans  and  the  Greeks  never  tired  of 
describing  its  beauties,  its  climate  and  its  forests. 
The  Arab  poets  use  it  as  an  illustration  of  grandeur, 
symmetry  and  strength.  It  is  a  proverb  that  Lebanon 
bears  winter  upon  its  head,  spring  upon  its  shoulders, 
autumn  in  its  lap  and  that  summer  lies  always  at  its 
feet.  The  mountain  gorges  have  become  popular 
summer  resorts,  and  are  sought  by  the  inhabitants  of 
the  plains  and  the  seacoast  for  health  and  enjoyment. 
The  cool,  fresh  air  and  the  balsam  of  the  forests  are 
unfailing  restoratives,  particularly  to  those  who  have 
suffered  from  the  malignant  Syrian  and  Egyptian 
fevers.  The  hotel  accommodations  as  yet  are  primi¬ 
tive,  and  it  is  difficult  to  get  luxurious  or  even  comfort¬ 
able  quarters  during  the  heat  of  summer;  but  they 
are  improving  gradually,  and  before  long  Lebanon 
will  be  provided  with  all  that  is  needful  in  the  way  of 
food  and  shelter  for  invalids  and  others  who  occupy 
the  east  coast  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  feverish 
valley  of  the  Nile. 

There  are  other  attractions  in  Lebanon  besides  the 
scenery,  the  climate  and  the  cedars.  The  territory  is 
divided  among  twenty-four  famous  families,  who  can 
trace  their  pedigree  to  the  flood,  and  whose  ancestors 
occupied  and  dominated  this  region  at  the  time  when 
the  Israelites  were  making  bricks  for  the  Pharaohs. 


180  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  oldest  dynasty  in  Europe  is  insignificant  in  its 
lineage  beside  them,  and  there  is  no  doubt  that  their 
pretensions  are  genuine.  The  tenure  of  the  land,  the 
recognition  of  their  feudal  rights  by  the  government 
and  the  people  is  sufficient.  Most  of  them  claim 
direct  descent  from  the  sons  of  Noah,  and  can  rattle 
off  genealogies  similar  to  those  in  the  Bible.  They 
remind  me  of  a  man  down  in  southern  Spain,  who  made 
similar  pretensions,  and  designed  a  family  tree  whose 
branches  spread  into  all  nations  and  whose  roots  were 
planted  in  a  sort  of  tablet,  upon  which  he  inscribed: 
“About  this  time  the  world  was  created. ”  It  would 
not  be  difficult  for  any  of  these  families  to  trace  their 
ancestry  back  to  Eden  by  adding  the  Biblical  list  to 
their  own  pedigrees;  and  the  accuracy  with  which  the 
genealogies  are  kept  gives  confidence  in  their  reli¬ 
ability.  Unfortunately  there  is  great  rivalry  and  jeal¬ 
ousy  between  these  native  princes,  who  have  been 
engaged  in  conspiracies  and  revolutions  against  the 
authorities  and  feuds  and  vendettas  among  themselves 
for  thousands  of  years.  Assassinations,  murders  and 
warfare  have  kept  their  numbers  down  and  they  are 
gradually  becoming  extinct,  for  which  nobody  but 
those  immediately  interested  is  sorry.  With  their 
pride  and  pedigrees  and  jealousies  they  have  not  only 
involved  the  entire  population  in  continuous  squabbles, 
but  have  blocked  the  wheels  of  progress  and  prevented 
the  development  of  the  country. 

Of  all  the  mighty  forests  which  formerly  covered 
the  slopes  of  Lebanon  only  five  remain  to-day,  and  they 
are  limited  in  area.  The  loftiest  trees  and  those  most 
celebrated  for  their  antiquity  are  found  near  the  town 
of  Becherre  at  an  altitude  of  6,300  feet  and  are  known 
as  “The  Cedars  of  God” — “The  Cedars  of  Lebanon 


WONDERFUL  WALLS  OF  BAALBEK  181 


which  He  hath  planted”;  according  to  the  botanists, 
who  count  the  age  of  the  trees  by  the  circles  in  their 
trunks,  they  are  3,000  or  4,000  years  old.  Like  the  im¬ 
mortal  cliffs  that  tower  above  them,  they  have  watched 
the  passage  of  a  procession  of  kings  down  the  centuries, 
led  by  David,  Solomon  and  Hiram,  with  a  rear  guard 
commanded  by  Kaiser  William  II.  of  Germany. 

They  are  not  so  large  nor  so  lofty  as  the  great  trees 
of  California,  but  their  antiquity  and  associations 
make  them  the  most  sacred  and  the  most  interesting 
groves  in  the  world,  and  pilgrims  come  here  to  worship 
them.  The  best  authorities  are  sure  that  we  make  no 
mistake  when  we  revere  them  as  the  survivors  of  that 
forest  whence  Hiram  obtained  the  timber  for  Solo¬ 
mon’s  temple.  The  logs  must  have  been  carried  down 
to  the  coast  by  hand,  conveyed  by  sea  in  rafts  to  Jaffa 
and  thence  carried  over  the  mountains  to  Jerusalem. 
In  those  days  there  were  no  other  means  of  convey¬ 
ance.  It  is  said  that  thirty  thousand  men  were  at  work 
in  the  forest  for  twelve  years  and  relieved  each  other 
every  month  in  bodies  of  ten  thousand  men,  who  were 
organized  and  managed  like  an  army.  David  obtained 
here  the  timber  for  his  palace,  and  Zerubbabel  in  con¬ 
structing  the  second  temple.  The  timbers  in  the  Tem¬ 
ple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus  and  in  the  temples  of  Baalbek 
came  from  the  same  forests,  and  we  know  that  the 
Phoenicians  shipped  much  cedar  to  Greece,  to  Egypt 
and  to  other  places  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean, 
not  only  before  but  for  centuries  after  the  days  of 
Hiram,  the  mighty  king  of  Tyre. 

The  remaining  forest  consists  of  about  four  hundred 
trees.  The  tallest  exceeds  one  hundred  feet  and  the 
largest  is  fifty-six  feet  in  circumference. 

In  the  midst  of  the  forest  is  the  small  chapel  in  which 


182  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  Maronites  worship  and  where  they  hold  great 
feasts  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Transfiguration  and 
other  ecclesiastical  holidays.  Below  the  forest  is  a 
beautiful  lake  about  half  a  mile  in  length  and  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  in  breadth,  fed  by  innumerable  springs  that 
gush  from  the  surrounding  rocks.  Upon  the  bank  was 
once  a  temple  to  Venus,  and  according  to  mythology 
(and  the  same  story  is  told  of  the  Egyptian  goddess 
Isis)  that  amiable  lady  took  refuge  here  when  she  fled 
from  the  Typhon  who  had  killed  Adonis,  and  trans¬ 
formed  herself  into  a  fish.  Her  daughter,  Dercetis, 
was  her  companion  and  suffered  a  similar  fate. 


i 


IX 

By  Tugboat  to  Tyre  and  Sidon 


183 


IX 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON 

We  had  to  charter  a  little  steamer  or  tugboat  to  take 
us  down  the  coast  from  Beirut,  because  the  passenger 
packets  that  stop  at  the  small  ports  run  only  once  a 
fortnight.  An  old  proverb  advises  us  always  to  speak 
well  of  the  ship  that  carries  us  over,  and  we  are  under 
many  obligations  to  the  Prince  George,  a  little  boat, 
which  served  us  safely  that  day.  We  were  not  very 
uncomfortable,  although  it  rolled  and  pitched  and 
indulged  in  certain  centrifugal  convolutions  that  were 
decidedly  disturbing  to  the  inner  man.  It  appeared  to 
be  trying  to  show  us  how  closely  it  could  describe  the 
trail  of  a  corkscrew  without  turning  over  and  suc¬ 
ceeded  much  better  than  the  average  imitator.  An 
ambitious  boat  and  a  contrary  sea  can  accomplish  more 
eccentric  curves  than  the  men  who  make  crazy  posters. 
But  worse  things  might  have  happened;  we  might  have 
been  drowned  or  cast  away  upon  a  desert  island,  for 
example,  and  ought  to  be  duly  thankful.  There  are 
worse  things  than  being  seasick. 

Perhaps  our  safety  was  due  to  the  piety  of  our  cap¬ 
tain  and  his  crew,  who  were  devout  Mohammedans, 
and  who  when  the  proper  hours  came,  at  nine  in  the 
morning,  at  noon  and  at  five  o’clock  in  the  afternoon, 
spread  their  coats  upon  the  deck,  because  they  had  no 
prayer  rugs,  turned  their  faces  toward  Mecca  and  went 
through  their  devotions  with  a  zeal  and  solemnity  that 
was  a  rebuke  to  all  Christendom.  I  do  not  know  a 
Methodist  or  a  Presbyterian  or  a  Baptist  sailor  who 
would  drop  his  work  in  the  middle  of  the  day  and 

185 


1 86  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


kneel  down  before  the  crew  and  passengers  of  a  ship 
and  say  his  prayers  as  regularly  as  those  Moslems  did. 
When  the  hour  came  around  a  West  Indian  negro,  who 
could  talk  English  and  declared  that  he  had  no  relig¬ 
ion,  although  he  wore  beads  to  protect  him  from  the 
evil  eye,  took  the  wheel  so  that  the  captain  might  say 
his  prayers,  and  the  latter  solemnly  went  through  his 
devotions  on  the  deck  outside  the  pilot-house. 

The  ancient  town  of  Sidon  is  twenty-seven  miles 
south  of  Beirut,  and  at  present  is  a  place  of  small 
importance  compared  with  its  former  prestige.  Tyre, 
the  far-famed  capital  of  the  ancient  Phoenician  Em¬ 
pire,  is  twenty-two  miles  farther  down  the  coast. 
Both,  by  reason  of  their  Biblical  and  historical  associa¬ 
tions,  are  among  the  most  interesting  places  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  but,  for  lack  of  steamship  facilities,  the  average 
tourist  usually  passes  them  by.  Four  thousand  years 
ago  Tyre  and  Sidon  were  commercial  rivals.  Both 
were  celebrated  for  their  commerce,  their  luxury  and 
their  vices,  and  both  sank  under  “the  burden  of  the 
Word  of  the  Lord,  for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it.” 
Tyre  not  only  contributed  to  the  Temple  of  Solomon 
and  to  the  luxury  and  wealth  of  all  the  world,  but 
Tyrian  purple  was  worn  by  every  king.  Agamemnon, 
the  king  of  kings,  and  Achilles,  the  General  Miles  of 
the  Trojan  War,  wore  armor  manufactured  in  Sidon, 
for  the  Sidonians  were  cunning  artisans  in  metal  and 
weavers  of  fine  fabrics  as  well  as  bold  mariners  and 
enterprising  merchants. 

We  read  of  both  cities  in  the  Iliad  and  the  Odyssey. 
They  were  famous  long  before  the  siege  of  Troy  or  the 
exodus  of  the  Israelites.  Their  wealth  exposed  them 
to  invasions  from  the  Assyrians,  the  Persians,  the 
Greeks,  the  Egyptians  and  the  Romans,  and  Sidon 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  187 


was  quite  destroyed  1,300  years  before  Christ  by  the 
Askalonites.  In  720  B.  C.  the  Sidonians  assisted 
Shalmaneser,  King  of  Assyria,  to  overcome  Tyre,  and 
several  centuries  later  Tyre  returned  the  compliment 
by  joining  Artaxerxes,  King  of  Persia,  and  assisting 
to  slaughter  forty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Sidon.  Alexander  the  Great  besieged  both  cities;  the 
Egyptian  Pharaohs  came  up  and  looted  both  cities  on 
several  occasions,  and  the  Roman  emperors  robbed 
them  again  and  again.  By  the  wayside,  in  the 
suburbs  of  Sidon,  is  a  large  granite  column  bearing  an 
inscription  by  which  those  two  mighty  emperors, 
Septimus  Severus  and  his  son,  Marcus  Aurelius  Anto¬ 
ninus,  endeavored  to  immortalize  themselves  by  inform¬ 
ing  posterity  that  they  mended  the  road. 

Christianity  took  root  at  Sidon  early,  and  Christ 
visited  the  coast,  although  we  have  no  record  in  the 
New  Testament  of  His  preaching  in  either  city.  Paul 
stopped  at  Sidon  on  his  way  to  Rome,  and  other  of 
the  apostles  came  here  frequently.  Both  cities  were 
fought  over  during  the  Crusades,  and  Sidon  was  the 
headquarters  of  the  Knights  Templar  for  many  years, 
but  was  finally  captured  by  the  Saracens,  and  the 
whole  coast  has  since  been  subject  to  the  Moslems. 

It  is  one  of  the  local  traditions  that  sugar  cane 
originated  here;  was  carried  to  Europe  by  the  return¬ 
ing  Crusaders,  and  when  America  was  discovered  was 
introduced  into  the  West  Indies  by  the  Spanish 
monks.  The  people  do  not  make  sugar  any  longer, 
however;  they  still  grow  cane,  but  cut  it  up  into  short 
lengths  and  sell  it  in  bundles  to  the  peasants,  who 
chew  it  for  the  juice. 

A  series  of  ruined  towers  all  along  the  coast  are  said 
to  have  continued  from  Jerusalem  to  Constantinople  in 


1 88  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


sight  of  each  other,  and,  according  to  tradition,  were 
erected  by  St.  Helena  in  order  that  she  might  convey 
by  signal  to  her  imperial  son,  Constantine  the  Great, 
the  tidings  of  the  discovery  of  the  true  cross,  for  which 
she  was  searching  the  Holy  City. 

Saida  is  the  modern  name  of  ancient  Sidon,  and  it 
contains  about  12,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  600  are 
Jews,  300  Protestants,  2,500  Roman  Catholics,  2,500 
Greeks  and  the  rest  Moslems.  The  Protestants  have 
several  schools  and  a  church  maintained  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Presbyterian  Board  of  Missions;  the  Franciscans 
have  a  church,  a  monastery,  and  a  school  for  boys;  the 
Jesuits  have  the  same,  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  a 
school  and  orphanage,  and  the  orthodox  Greeks, 
Israelites  and  other  denominations  have  missions. 
The  chief  export  at  present  is  fruit.  Oranges  and 
lemons,  almonds,  apricots  and  bananas  are  extensively 
cultivated  and  shipped  to  Egypt,  Constantinople  and 
France.  The  town  is  surrounded  with  beautiful  gar¬ 
dens  and  groves,  which  occupy  the  entire  plain,  an 
area  of  several  miles  between  the  mountains  and  the 
sea. 

Upon  a  hill  that  projects  into  the  sea  is  the  castle  of 
St.  Louis,  built  by  the  Crusaders,  and  it  is  a  pictur¬ 
esque  land  mark.  At  the  southern  end  of  the  town  is  an 
extensive  Necropolis  which  offers  the  most  remarkable 
evidence  of  the  ancient  wealth  and  importance  of  the 
town  that  can  be  imagined.  Rectangular  chambers 
about  ten  by  twelve  feet  square  are  excavated  in  the 
solid  rock  and  were  used  as  vaults  for  the  burial  of 
rich  citizens.  Some  of  them  were  stuccoed  with 
cement  and  decorated  in  Pompeian  style;  others  show 
evidence  of  having  been  faced  with  mosaics,  and  all 
formerly  contained  sarcophagi  of  marble,  porphyry, 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  189 


lead,  clay  and  other  material  highly  decorated  with 
carvings,  paintings  and  other  enrichments.  The  tomb 
chambers,  however,  have  been  looted  of  everything  of 
value  by  vandals.  The  robbery  probably  began  at  the 
time  of  the  Crusades.  Here  were  found  the  sarcophagus 
of  Alexander  the  Great,  which  is  now  exhibited  in  the 
museum  at  Constantinople,  and  other  burial  urns  and 
cases  of  great  artistic  beauty,  which  have  been  shipped 
to  museums  in  almost  every  great  city.  In  1855  was  dis¬ 
covered  the  basalt  sarcophagus  of  the  Sidonian  king, 
Eshmunazar,  now  in  the  Louvre  at  Paris,  and  the  lid 
bears  a  long  Phoenician  inscription.  This  heathen 
king,  like  Shakespeare,  invoked  a  curse  upon  the 
vandal  who  should  disturb  his  bones.  In  1887  seven¬ 
teen  fine  Greek  and  Phoenician  marble  tombs  were  dis¬ 
covered  and  sent  to  Constantinople,  and,  although  no 
systematic  excavation  has  been  made  here,  it  is  certain 
that  many  treasures  still  remain  buried.  People  are 
constantly  finding  rare  things.  Some  years  ago  a 
party  of  workmen,  while  digging  for  the  foundation  of 
a  house  in  a  grove  of  mulberry  trees,  unearthed  sev¬ 
eral  copper  pots  containing  about  $12,000  worth  of 
gold  coin  issued  by  Alexander  the  Great  and  Philip  of 
Macedon.  They  appeared  to  be  fresh  from  the  mint, 
and  some  of  them  were  as  bright  as  the  day  on  which 
they  were  coined.  It  is  evident  that  they  were  buried 
by  somebody  who  had  access  to  the  royal  treasure 
chest  and  was  unable  to  recover  them.  The  workmen 
went  wild  with  excitement  and  astonishment.  The 
news  of  their  discovery  soon  spread  through  the  city, 
and  hundreds  of  people  brought  shovels  and  spades  to 
dig  up  the  rest  of  the  grove.  More  energy  was  dis¬ 
played  in  Sidon  than  at  any  time  since  the  Crusaders, 
but  nothing  of  value  was  unearthed.  The  governor  of 


i go  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  city  calmly  took  possession  of  the  coin,  and  is 
said  to  have  forwarded  it  to  the  sultan,  but  if  he  did  so 
his  imperial  master  must  have  melted  up  the  gold,  for 
only  a  few  of  the  coins  ever  got  into  the  hands  of  the 
dealers,  and  those  were  pilfered.  As  soon  as  the 
facts  were  published  there  was  a  great  demand  for 
them.  The  general  impression  is  that  the  governor 
was  the  sole  beneficiary  of  the  find. 

Sidon  must  have  been  much  larger  than  at  present, 
for  evidences  of  its  extent  are  found  everywhere  in  the 
gardens  and  groves  that  surround  it.  Columns  of 
marble,  broken  statuary,  carved  stone  and  other  build¬ 
ing  material  are  discovered  deep  in  the  soil.  You 
must  remember  that  Sidon  was  a  very  old  city  even  at 
the  time  of  Solomon,  having  been  founded,  according 
to  Josephus,  by  Sidon,  the  eldest  son  of  Canaan,  and 
the  grandson  of  Noah.  At  the  time  of  the  invasion  of 
Canaan  by  the  Israelites  under  Joshua  it  was  the  chief 
city  of  the  Phoenicians.  Phoenicia  means  the  “land 
of  palms”  and  was  applied  to  this  country  by  the 
Greeks.  The  Hebrew  name  was  Canaan,  and  wherever 
the  latter  is  used  in  the  Bible  it  refers  to  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  descendants  of  Noah’s  grandson, 
Canaan,  who  were  known  as  Phoenicians  by  other 
foreigners.  They  were  the  most  remarkable  people  of 
their  age,  and  the  limited  territory  they  occupied  bore 
no  proportion  to  the  wealth  they  possessed  or  the 
influence  they  exerted.  Beginning  immediately  after 
the  flood,  they  became  the  pioneers  of  all  the  earth  in 
commerce,  art  and  industry,  and  for  twenty-five  cen¬ 
turies  practically  monopolized  the  trade  of  the  world. 
The  Israelites  in  those  days  exerted  no  influence  in  the 
development  and  progress  of  the  human  race;  they 
contributed  nothing  to  its  wealth  or  commerce  or 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  191 


knowledge.  They  did  not  seek  distinction  in  art, 
science,  literature  or  trade.  They  were  content  to 
rest  upon  their  historic  traditions  and  their  sacred 
claims  as  the  chosen  people  of  God,  while  the  Canaan- 
ites  or  Phoenicians,  whom  they  displaced,  engaged 
with  eagerness  and  zeal  in  all  the  pursuits  that 
attracted  the  enterprise  of  men.  They  excelled  all 
other  nations  in  shipbuilding,  navigation  and  the  use¬ 
ful  arts;  they  carried  to  Europe  the  superior  accom¬ 
plishments  of  the  East  and  brought  back  the  tin  of 
England,  the  copper  of  Spain,  the  amber  of  the  Baltic, 
the  iron  of  Sweden,  and  exchanged  them  for  the 
spices,  gems  and  costly  fabrics  of  India,  Arabia  and 
Egypt.  They  taught  the  barbarous  races  of  Europe 
the  arts  and  trades;  they  gave  them  the  alphabet  and 
a  written  language,  the  sciences  of  astronomy,  geog¬ 
raphy  and  mineralogy,  and  spread  knowledge  in  every 
direction. 

Tyre  was  the  capital  of  the  Phoenicians  and  4,000 
years  ago  was  the  greatest  of  existing  cities.  To-day 
it  is  a  sleepy  old  town,  under  the  name  of  Sur,  of  about 
5,000  inhabitants,  with  several  monasteries  and  mis¬ 
sionary  schools,  and  does  a  small  coasting  trade  with 
the  neighboring  towns  in  fruit,  cotton,  tobacco  and 
millstones.  The  only  interesting  objects  for  the 
visitor  are  the  ruins,  the  tombs  and  the  Crusaders’ 
Church,  which  was  built  in  1125,  and  fortunately  has 
been  preserved  from  the  wrath  and  neglect  of  the 
Moslems.  It  contains  the  body  of  Frederic  Bar- 
barossa,  the  great  German  emperor,  who  died  in  1190. 

The  harbor  is  filled  with  the  ruins  of  palaces,  tem¬ 
ples  and  other  magnificent  edifices  that  made  Tyre  the 
wonder  of  the  world,  but  to-day  the  streets  are  narrow, 
crooked,  filthy  and  full  of  smells.  There  is  nothing 


192  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


attractive  about  the  place  or  the  people.  Even  nature 
has  become  stern  and  desolate  since  the  curses  of 
Isaiah,  Ezekiel  and  the  other  prophets  of  the  Lord  fell 
upon  the  richest  and  most  profligate  community  of 
ancient  times. 

For  centuries  Tyrian  purple  was  the  color  of 
kings,  and  the  robes  of  the  rulers  of  all  mankind,  in 
Christendom  at  least,  were  dyed  with  the  blood  of  a 
shell  fish  called  the  murex,  which  was  formerly  found 
all  along  the  coast  and  is  now  most  abundant  in  the 
Bay  of  Acre.  It  was  the  most  celebrated  of  all  dyes. 
It  is  spoken  of  in  the  Bible,  and  even  in  the  remote 
age  Homer  sings  of  “belts  that,  rich  with  Tyrian  dye, 
refulgent  glowed.”  Pliny,  who  was  the  first  great 
naturalist,  says  that  the  Phoenicians  ground  the  shells 
of  the  murex  in  mills  to  procure  the  dye,  but  modern 
naturalists  say  that  the  best  coloring  matter  was 
obtained  from  a  gland  in  the  body  of  the  insect,  which 
yielded  only  one  or  two  drops  as  precious  as  jewels. 
This  was  first  carefully  separated  and  then  the  blood 
was  squeezed  out  of  the  rest  of  the  body  of  the  insect, 
which  made  a  dye  of  an  inferior  quality.  The  remains 
of  shells  in  pits  along  the  shore  seem  to  indicate  that 
Pliny  was  wrong  and  that  the  naturalists  are  right,  but 
it  is  a  lost  art.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Sidon  the 
great  piles  of  murex  shells  from  which  the  insect  has 
been  taken  indicate  the  enormous  destruction  of  that 
kind  of  life  to  fill  the  demand  for  the  dye. 

Another  insect  found  in  this  locality,  called  the 
Helix  ianthina,  yields  a  delicate  lilac  shade  of  dye,  and 
a  species  of  Buccinum  yields  a  dark  crimson,  but 
neither  were  as  abundant  or  as  famous  as  the  Tyrian 
purple. 

Just  south  of  Tyre,  in  a  little  village  called  Hana- 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  193 

weh,  is  the  tomb  of  King  Hiram,  friend  and  ally  of 
David  and  Solomon.  It  is  the  most  important  and 
striking  monument  of  that  period  of  the  earth’s  civili¬ 
zation  which  time  has  spared.  Nothing  remaining  in 
an  original  position  compares  with  it  for  antiquity, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  it  has  been  dis¬ 
turbed  since  the  days  of  Solomon.  Large  broken  sar¬ 
cophagi  around  it  are  supposed  to  have  been  once 
occupied  by  King  Hiram’s  mother,  wife,  and  other 
members  of  the  family,  but  there  is  no  definite  evi¬ 
dence.  That  his  tomb  is  genuine,  we  can  rest  upon 
the  inscriptions  and  unmistakable  marks  of  antiquity. 
The  base  or  pedestal  consists  of  two  tiers  of  enormous 
blocks  of  granite  thirteen  feet  long,  nine  feet  broad 
and  three  feet  thick,  which  were  carefully  dressed  and 
laid.  Upon  these  lies  one  huge  block  of  stone  about 
fifteen  by  twelve  feet  in  size  and  nearly  four  feet  thick, 
the  edges  of  which  were  formerly  chiseled  with  a 
design  resembling  what  we  call  a  “wall  of  Troy,”  but 
the  most  of  it  has  been  chipped  away.  Upon  this 
block  lies  the  sarcophagus,  twelve  feet  four  inches 
long,  eight  feet  broad  and  six  feet  high,  which  was 
hollowed  out  to  receive  the  body.  Of  course  it  is 
empty  now.  The  tomb  is  supposed  to  have  been 
despoiled  in  the  time  of  the  Crusaders,  but  fortunately 
was  not  destroyed.  The  lid  is  in  the  shape  of  a  pyra¬ 
mid,  five  feet  thick  and  badly  broken. 

In  my  Sunday  school  days  I  was  puzzled  by  that  part 
of  the  story  of  the  prodigal  son  which  tells  of  his  feed¬ 
ing  upon  “the  husks  that  the  swine  did  eat.”  Chil¬ 
dren  and  people  generally  fancy  that  the  husks  of  corn 
are  meant,  when  such  things  are  not  found  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  and  we  all  know  that  man  nor  beast  could  not  eat, 
or  at  least  digest,  the  tough  fibers  that  protect  the  ears 


1 94  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


of  corn.  It  is  therefore  with  a  sense  of  relief  and  per¬ 
sonal  gratification  that  I  have  discovered  that  the  few 
swine  in  Palestine  (for  they  are  very  scarce)  are  fed 
upon  the  husks  of  a  species  of  the  locust  tree,  known 
to  botany  as  the  Ceratonia  Siliqua,  commonly  called 
St.  John’s  bread.  The  pods  or  husks,  as  they  are  com¬ 
monly  called,  are  gelatinous,  juicy,  sweet  and  pleasant 
to  the  taste.  They  are  fed  to  sheep  and  cattle  as  well 
as  to  hogs  and  are  both  nourishing  and  fattening. 
When  they  are  thoroughly  ripe  people  often  crush 
them  and  squeeze  out  the  juice,  which,  mixed  with 
cool  water,  makes  a  very  refreshing  beverage.  There¬ 
fore,  the  prodigal  son  was  not  so  badly  off  for  food  as 
I  supposed,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  luncheon  of 
the  swine  which  he  was  compelled  to  share  was  the 
husks  of  St.  John’s  bread. 

The  three  Semitic  races  which  now  inhabit  the  Holy 
Land,  the  Jews,  Arabs  and  Assyrians,  all  have  a  deep 
intellectual  character,  a  rich  poetic  sentiment  and  a 
lively  imagination,  but  no  capacity  for  reasoning. 
They  have  not  produced  any  system  of  philosophy  nor 
developed  their  poetic  instincts  to  a  degree  that  will 
compare  with  the  poetry  of  the  Greeks,  Latins, 
French,  Germans  or  English,  and  have  shown  no  taste 
for  the  fine  arts.  Their  minds  continually  dwell  upon 
abstract  propositions,  and  they  seem  to  be  satisfied 
with  their  own  thoughts  without  acquiring  those  of 
others.  Their  libraries  and  schools  are  few.  They 
have  never  had  a  university.  The  Arabs  have  their 
own  literature,  rich  in  poetic  sentiment,  humor  and 
fancy,  but  they  know  nothing  of  the  literature  of  other 
nations.  They  have  a  high  regard  for  scholarship, 
but  spend  no  money  for  schools;  they  appreciate  the 
value  of  learning,  but  are  too  indolent  to  study  any- 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  195 

thing  but  the  maxims  of  their  own  pundits;  and  the 
traditions  of  their  own  race  are  sufficient  for  their  satis¬ 
faction  without  taking  the  trouble  to  inquire  into  the 
history  of  other  races. 

As  is  the  case  with  all  ignorant  people  the  pride  and 
vanity  of  the  Arabs  and  Syrians  are  unsurpassed. 
They  believe  that  the  land  in  which  they  live  is  supe¬ 
rior  to  any  other  upon  the  footstool,  and  that  they 
have  been  more  favored  than  other  races  by  being  per¬ 
mitted  to  live  there.  They  cannot  conceive  of  any¬ 
thing  more  beautiful  or  majestic  than  the  mountains  of 
Lebanon,  and  the  landscapes  that  are  spread  out  daily 
before  their  eyes;  they  actually  indulge  in  an  amiable 
pity  for  those  who  are  not  allowed  to  live  in  Palestine, 
and  often  wonder  whether  the  inhabitants  of  other 
nations  can  be  as  happy  and  comfortable  and  con¬ 
tented  as  they  are  in  the  midst  of  their  squalor  and 
wretchedness.  Their  arrogance  is  not  often  offensive, 
however.  They  are  careful  not  to  wound  the  feelings 
of  strangers  by  exulting  in  their  own  superiority,  but 
at  the  same  time  they  do  not  attempt  to  conceal  it. 
They  have  a  theory  that  tourists  come  to  this  country 
because  it  is  so  much  more  attractive  than  their  own, 
and  are  willing  to  allow  them  to  enjoy  its  attractions 
undisturbed. 

The  Bedouins  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  interior 
are  far  more  conscious  of  their  own  superiority  over 
the  rest  of  mankind  than  the  Greeks  and  other  Chris¬ 
tians  who  live  in  the  towns  on  the  coast,  and  know 
something  of  foreign  countries,  either  by  having 
visited  them,  or  by  contact  with  foreigners,  or  from 
the  reports  of  friends  who  have  traveled  or  emigrated. 
The  Palestine  Jews  are  scornful  toward  Christians,  but 
never  boast  like  the  Arabs.  The  Greeks  who  have 


1 96  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


lived  in  foreign  countries  and  have  returned  to  reside 
here  often  describe  accurately  the  conditions  of  other 
places,  but  their  statements  are  considered  exaggera¬ 
tions,  for  it  is  impossible  that  any  country  could  be  so 
fair  and  rich,  or  any  people  so  intelligent,  accom¬ 
plished  and  industrious  as  the  Arabs. 

There  are  several  kinds  of  Jews.  The  Sephardim 
are  the  descendants  of  those  who  were  expelled  from 
Spain  at  the  time  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Many 
of  them  succeeded  in  reaching  Palestine,  where  they 
have  since  lived,  scrupulously  observing  the  habits 
and  customs  of  their  ancestors,  wearing  the  same  cos¬ 
tumes  so  far  as  they  are  suitable  for  the  present  day 
and  speaking  the  common  Spanish  language.  The 
Ashkenazim  Jews  are  from  Russia,  Poland,  Hungary, 
Bohemia,  Moravia  and  Germany,  and  speak  with  a 
peculiar  accent.  The  Perushim  are  the  descendants 
of  the  ancient  Pharisees;  the  Chasidim  are  descendants 
of  the  Sadducees;  the  Karaiters,  who  reject  the  Tal¬ 
mud  and  adhere  to  the  original  Mosaic  laws,  were 
formerly  very  strong,  but  have  been  growing  gradually 
weaker  and  are  now  almost  extinct.  These  several 
classes  of  Jews  may  be  distinguished  by  their  physi¬ 
ognomy  and  by  their  dress.  The  men  are  generally 
tall,  and  slender,  with  stooping  shoulders  and  full 
beards.  They  wear  a  sort  of  tunic  of  cotton  print 
under  their  black  robes  and  their  turbans  are  made 
from  grayish  shawls  or  scarfs.  The  Sephardim  wear 
black  turbans.  The  Polish  and  Bohemian  Jews  wear 
in  front  of  the  ears  curls  reaching  almost  to  the  chin 
and  giving  them  a  very  peculiar  appearance. 

The  Arabs,  like  the  Spaniards,  have  a  proverb  to 
illustrate  every  possible  situation  in  life  and  every 
homely  little  incident.  They  are  full  of  superstitions 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  197 


and  have  interpretations  for  all  signs  and  omens,  some 
of  which  are  very  odd.  They  are  constantly  consult¬ 
ing  the  stars  and  other  natural  phenomena  and  their 
common  conversation  abounds  in  proverbs,  some  of 
which  are  inherited  from  Solomon.  We  are  told  that 
Solomon  spoke  3,000  proverbs  and  that  his  songs  num¬ 
bered  1,005,  so  ^at  comparatively  few  have  been  pre¬ 
served  to  us.  Most  of  them  have  perished.  Solomon 
will  stand  to  the  world’s  end  as  the  wisest  and  most 
learned  of  men,  yet  we  do  not  know  where  he  got  his 
education.  He  is  said  to  have  spoken  all  the  known 
tongues  of  his  time  and  to  have  understood  the  lan¬ 
guages  of  birds,  beasts  and  fishes,  which  I  suppose 
Thompson-Seton  and  L.  O.  Howard  of  Washington 
can  do.  I  would  set  L.  O.  Howard  up  against  Solo¬ 
mon  any  day  for  an  expert  in  the  bug  languages.  He 
is  the  entomologist  of  the  Agricultural  Department. 
I  have  known  hunters  and  trappers  out  West  who 
understood  the  bear  and  catamount  languages  just  as 
well  as  they  understood  Indian.  Billy  Hofer,  one  of 
the  guides  out  in  the  Yellowstone  Park,  can  talk  bear 
and  understand  it,  at  least  he  says  he  can,  and  it  has 
saved  him  a  heap  of  trouble.  It  is  just  as  convenient 
for  a  man  to  be  able  to  talk  bear  in  the  forests  and 
gorges  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  as  it  is  to  talk  French 
in  Paris  or  Turkish  in  Constantinople.  It  helps  along 
wonderfully. 

Many  of  the  proverbs  of  Solomon  are  in  current  use 
to-day  among  the  people  of  Palestine,  although  those 
who  utter  them  are  entirely  unconscious  of  their  origin. 
Your  teamster  or  the  Arab  porter  who  handles  your 
trunks,  and  other  natives  with  whom  you  come  in  con¬ 
tact,  often  quote  maxims  as  wise  and  witty  as  any 
Solomon  ever  invented.  For  example,  it  is  a  common 


198  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


saying  in  Constantinople  that  people  who  visit  the 
sultan  should  enter  the  palace  blind  and  come  out 
dumb,  which  is  the  very  best  of  advice. 

“He  who  holds  a  secret  of  the  sultan’s  should  imme¬ 
diately  emigrate,”  is  another  political  proverb. 

“His  business  is  soon  dispatched  who  sends  a  pres¬ 
ent  before  him,”  is  current  among  the  people  who  visit 
the  officials  of  the  government. 

“In  the  time  of  trouble  you  will  discover  who  are 
your  friends,”  is  another  equally  applicable. 

“Three  things  give  one  a  fever — a  lazy  messenger,  a 
lamp  that  gives  a  poor  light  and  a  guest  that  is  late  for 
dinner.  ” 

“He  wanders  who  takes  a  blind  man  for  his  guide.” 

“For  four  things  there  is  no  recall — the  spoken 
word,  the  sped  arrow,  the  act  of  a  fool  and  time  mis¬ 
spent.” 

The  Arabs  have  gathered  the  material  for  their  prov¬ 
erbs  from  a  close  observation  of  nature  and  the  dispo¬ 
sitions  of  men.  They  have  applied  them  to  every 
conceivable  thing,  visible  and  invisible,  above  and  be¬ 
low,  sickness  and  health,  life  and  death,  joy  and  sorrow, 
trees,  plants  and  flowers,  rain,  snow  and  wind,  birds 
and  beasts  and  creeping  things,  and  every  attribute, 
peculiarity,  habit  and  whim  of  all  the  inhabitants  of 
the  great  world,  and  their  signs  and  omens  are  taken 
from  the  same  sources.  Some  of  the  superstitions  are 
quite  odd.  For  example,  there  are  haunted  trees, 
supposed  to  be  the  abode  of  evil  spirits.  In  order  to 
propitiate  them  people  hang  little  bits  of  rags  upon  the 
limbs  and  branches  just  as  the  Japanese  attach  paper 
prayers  to  trees  in  the  same  manner.  It  is  only  an  act 
of  courtesy  or  recognition,  however.  It  does  not  go 
any  farther,  but  it  pleases  the  evil  spirit  and  protects 


BY  TUGBOAT  TO  TYRE  AND  SIDON  199 


the  wayfarer  from  his  ill  will.  You  see  many  such 
trees  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  decorated  with 
hundreds  of  little  strips  of  cloth.  The  children  avoid 
them  and  a  superstitious  man  would  not  sit  under  one 
for  the  world. 


X 

Footprints  of  the  Prophet  Elijah 


201 


1 


X 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  THE  PROPHET  ELIJAH 

Mount  Carmel  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  hills. 
Its  slopes  are  always  covered  with  verdure,  flowers  and 
sweet  herbs,  nurtured  by  the  dew  which  was  famous  in 
scriptural  times.  The  original  name,  Kerm-el,  means 
“the  garden,”  or  “vineyard  of  God.”  In  Bible  times, 
as  now,  it  was  not  only  a  prominent  landmark,  visible 
up  and  down  the  coast  from  Jaffa  on  the  south  to  Tyre 
and  Sidon  northward,  but  produced  fat  harvests  of 
olives  and  grapes,  and  a  profusion  of  flowers,  plants 
and  shrubs.  The  odorous  thyme  grows  in  great 
masses,  wild  roses  climb  over  every  rock,  and  the 
earth  is  covered  with  a  variety  of  ground  orchids.  No 
other  part  of  the  country  yields  such  olives  and  grapes 
and  nowhere  else  are  the  sheep  and  cattle  so  well  fed. 
In  Bible  times,  as  now,  Carmel  was  the  abode  of  her¬ 
mits  and  the  asylum  of  fugitives  from  justice  who  dwelt 
in  the  caves  and  grottoes  which  are  numerous  on  both 
slopes  among  the  limestone  ledges.  Amos  says, 
“Though  they  hide  themselves  in  the  top  of  Carmel,  I 
will  search  and  take  them  out  thence.”  The  mountain 
was  a  sanctuary  and  a  place  of  worship  from  the  earli¬ 
est  times.  It  was  claimed  both  for  Baal  and  for  Jeho¬ 
vah.  Both  had  altars  near  the  crest  where  the  priests 
of  the  rival  religions,  as  told  in  the  vivid  language  of 
the  book  of  Kings,  entered  upon  an  awful  debate  to 
determine  which  was  supreme.  The  struggle  took 
place  in  one  of  the  sublimest  landscapes  conceivable, 

a  changing  vision  of  earth  and  sea  and  sky. 

203 


204  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Carmel  is  rather  a  ridge  than  a  mountain,  as  it  extends 
at  about  an  even  height  of  1,700  feet  for  a  distance  of 
eighteen  miles,  being  cut  at  intervals  the  entire  distance 
with  abrupt  ravines  and  deep  gorges.  It  runs  at 
right  angles  from  the  coast  and  the  western  end  is 
a  bold  promontory  550  feet  in  height,  which  projects 
into  the  sea.  At  the  other  end  is  a  series  of  rocky 
terraces  leading  down  into  the  famous  plain  of  Esdra- 
elon,  where  the  great  miracle  of  Elijah  took  place. 

Carmel  separates  this  famous  plain  on  the  north  from 
the  equally  celebrated  plain  of  Sharon  on  the  south, 
and  at  the  eastern  end  sinks  gradually  into  the  wooded 
hills  of  Samaria.  There  are  ten  or  twelve  villages 
upon  its  slopes,  occupied  by  Moslems  and  Druses, 
most  of  them  shepherds.  One  of  these  villages  was 
the  retreat  of  Lawrence  Oliphant,  an  eccentric  English¬ 
man,  who  endeavored  to  benefit  his  fellow  man  without 
much  success.  He  once  started  a  colony  in  California, 
but  it  was  a  failure,  owing  to  the  unwillingness  of  the 
beneficiaries  to  work  for  their  board,  or  some  similar 
reason,  and,  attracted  by  the  success  of  the  Temple 
Society,  he  went  to  Palestine,  hoping  to  revive  the 
languishing  fortunes  of  the  Jews.  Oliphant’s  experi¬ 
ence  is  told  in  his  story,  entitled  “The  Land  of  Gilead.” 
He  failed  to  obtain  a  concession  from  the  Turkish  gov¬ 
ernment,  hoping  against  hope  from  1882  to  1888,  while 
he  resided  in  the  German  colony  of  Haifa  and  wrote 
novels. 

Almost  every  spot  on  Carmel  is  associated  with  Bible 
history.  Upon  the  promontory  toward  the  sea  is  the 
Deir  el  Mar  Elyas,  an  enormous  Carmelite  monastery, 
erected  over  the  cave  in  whjch  the  Prophet  Elijah  is 
said  to  have  made  his  home.  There  is  very  little 
doubt  about  the  historical  accuracy  of  the  traditions  of 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


205 


Carmel.  It  is  one  of  the  few  places  in  Palestine  where 
you  can  be  confident  of  seeing  the  real  thing.  There 
is  no  humbug  there,  and,  although  Elijah  may  not  have 
lived  in  that  particular  cave,  he  certainly  occupied  for 
many  years  a  cave  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 
The  accounts  of  events  that  occurred  on  Carmel  are 
related  with  such  detail  in  the  Bible  and  the  topogra¬ 
phy  is  so  explicitly  described  that  there  can  be  no 
mistake.  Anyone  who  has  traveled  in  the  Holy 
Land  can  appreciate  the  satisfaction. 

I  question,  however,  the  assertion  of  Brother  Felix, 
a  consumptive  American  monk  who  showed  us 
around,  that  Elijah  was  the  founder  of  the  Order  of 
Carmelite  Friars.  Perhaps  Brother  Felix  was  “josh¬ 
ing”  a  heretical  fellow  countryman.  He  had  a  keen 
sense  of  humor,  but  said  it  with  a  sober  face.  Nobody 
knows  definitely  who  founded  the  Carmelites,  except 
that  the  founders  were  hermits,  who  lived  in  Elijah’s 
cave  for  centuries.  They  were  here  before  1180,  when 
the  first  monastery  was  built,  and  probably  came  with 
the  Crusades.  It  is  claimed  by  some  that  the  Empress 
Helena  put  up  the  first  building,  while  others  attribute 
it  to  St.  Louis,  the  Crusader  king  of  France.  Greek 
inscriptions  in  the  cave  are  evidently  older  than  the 
Christian  era;  Tacitus  tells  us  that  in  his  time  there 
was  an  altar  to  the  “god  of  Carmel,”  where  the  mon¬ 
astery  now  stands;  Pythagoras,  the  great  Greek  philos¬ 
opher,  on  a  journey  from  Athens  to  Egypt,  spent  some 
time  there,  and  the  Emperor  Vespasian  consulted  an 
oracle  which  occupied  the  spot. 

The  Carmelite  order  was  officially  recognized  by 
Pope  Honorius  III.  in  1224,  and  Carmel  has  always  been 
its  headquarters.  The  brotherhood  and  their  build¬ 
ings  have  been  badly  treated  from  time  to  time  and 


206  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


have  patiently  endured  a  great  deal  of  persecution. 
Many  of  them  have  been  killed  and  tortured.  They 
have  repeatedly  been  stripped  of  all  their  worldly  pos¬ 
sessions;  the  monastery  has  been  destroyed  several 
times  and  has  twice  been  converted  into  a  Moham¬ 
medan  mosque.  When  Napoleon  made  his  campaign 
in  Palestine  in  1799  the  building  was  used  as  a  hospital, 
and  the  monks  nursed  the  soldiers,  but  upon  his  retire¬ 
ment  the  wounded  and  their  nurses  were  massacred  by 
the  Turks  and  are  buried  under  a  small  pyramid  just 
outside  the  gate. 

The  present  buildings  are  without  doubt  the  finest 
that  ever  stood  upon  the  site,  and  were  erected  by  the 
indefatigable  exertions  of  Brother  Giovanni  Battista 
of  Frascati,  Italy,  who  not  only  collected  all  the 
money,  but  drew  the  plans  and  superintended  the  con¬ 
struction  himself,  traveling  through  Europe  and  Asia 
to  solicit  funds  as  he  needed  them.  The  buildings  are 
among  the  finest  of  the  many  monasteries  in  Palestine. 
They  are  three  stories  high  and  solidly  built  of  stone. 
The  ground  floor  is  used  for  offices  and  kitchen,  a  dis¬ 
pensary  and  a  hospice  for  poor  pilgrims.  The  second 
floor  is  fitted  up  with  neatly  furnished  bedrooms  and 
other  accommodations  for  travelers  who  are  able  to 
pay,  while  on  the  third  floor  are  cells  for  sixty  monks, 
a  library,  refectory,  a  hospital  and  other  rooms.  The 
bedrooms  are  especially  inviting  in  their  arrangement 
and  appearance,  and  the  monks  are  hospitable. 

In  the  center  of  the  building  is  a  handsome  chapel, 
elaborately  decorated,  with  a  good  organ,  a  magnifi¬ 
cent  altar  of  onyx  and  some  fine  paintings.  All  the 
work  has  been  done  by  the  monks  themselves,  and 
they  have  collected  the  funds  to  pay  the  expense. 

At  the  end  of  the  promontory  is  a  lighthouse  for  the 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


207 


benefit  of  mariners.  It  was  built  by  the  Turkish  gov¬ 
ernment,  which  pays,  or  rather  promises  to  pay,  the 
monks  for  keeping  up  the  light,  but  they  have  received 
no  money  for  several  years. 

The  monks  have  fine  gardens  and  grow  herbs,  from 
which  Chartreuse  and  Eau  de  Melisse,  an  aromatic 
liqueur,  are  brewed  and  sold  to  travelers.  They  also 
sell  pressed  flowers  and  other  souvenirs  to  pilgrims. 

In  the  center  of  the  court  before  the  lighthouse  is  a 
statue  erected  by  the  army  of  the  Republic  of  Chile  in 
honor  of  “Our  Lady  of  Carmel,”  who  was  its  patron 
saint  during  the  war  with  Peru. 

There  are  a  number  of  caves  in  the  neighborhood. 
In  one  of  them,  called  “the  School  of  Prophets,” 
Elijah  is  supposed  to  have  taught  a  class  of  young 
men.  Another  cave  near  by  is  said  to  be  that  in  which 
Obadiah  hid  the  prophets  of  the  Lord  when  the  wicked 
Queen  Jezebel  was  after  them. 

On  the  point  of  the  mountain  facing  east  a  little 
Catholic  chapel  and  the  remains  of  an  old  castle  dating 
from  the  time  of  the  Crusaders  mark  the  scene  of  one 
of  the  most  thrilling  tragedies  in  the  Bible.  It 
occurred  during  the  reign  of  the  wicked  king  Ahab 
and  his  queen,  Jezebel,  who,  by  the  way,  was  a  daughter 
of  the  Phoenician  king  of  Tyre  and  a  grand-daughter  of 
King  Hiram,  who  supplied  Solomon  with  material  for 
his  temple. 

Elijah,  the  Tishbite,  was  the  principal  actor.  To 
punish  the  king  for  his  apostasy  to  the  true  God,  and 
the  queen  for  corrupting  the  faith  of  Israel  by  the  use 
of  power  and  patronage,  the  prophet  prayed  that  rain 
might  be  cut  off  from  the  land,  and  the  fountains  of 
the  heavens  were  shut  up  for  three  years  and  six 
months.  The  king  sent  Obadiah,  governor  of  his 


208  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


house,  upon  a  scouting  expedition  to  find  water  and 
grass  “to  save  the  horses  and  the  mules  alive,  that  we 
may  not  lose  all  the  beasts.”  Obadiah  had  gone  but  a 
little  way  when  he  was  astonished  to  meet  Elijah,  who 
had  disappeared  and  could  not  be  found  either  by  the 
soldiers'or  the. detectives  of  the  king. 

“As  the  Lord  thy  God  liveth,  ” exclaimed  Obadiah, 
“there  is  no  nation  or  kingdom  whither  my  Lord  has 
not  sent  to  seek  thee.” 

Elijah  replied  coolly,  “Go  tell  thy  Lord,  Behold, 
Elijah  is  here.” 

The  proud  king  was  humbled.  He  obeyed  the  sum¬ 
mons,  but  when  he  saw  Elijah  he  asked  sternly,  “Art 
thou  he  that  troubleth  Israel?” 

The  Tishbite  gave  the  king  a  piece  of  his  mind  and 
offered  to  prove  that  the  priests  and  prophets  of  Baal, 
who  had  been  living  around  him  under  the  patronage 
of  Queen  Jezebel,  were  imposters. 

A  trial  by  fire  was  proposed  to  test  their  power. 
Four  hundred  and  fifty  prophets  and  priests  of  Baal 
came  to  the  place  of  sacrifice  and  called  upon  the 
heathen  god  in  vain.  Elijah  mocked  them,  and  the 
priests,  goaded  to  frenzy,  slashed  themselves  with 
knives,  tore  their  hair  and  continued  their  appeals  until 
“the  time  of  the  offering  of  the  evening  sacrifice.” 

Then  Elijah  suggested  that  they  had  had  a  fair  show. 
It  was  his  turn  now.  Taking  twelve  stones,  according 
to  the  number  of  the  tribes  of  the  sons  of  Jacob,  he 
repaired  the  altar  of  Jehovah  which  had  been  broken 
down  by  the  priests  of  Baal  and  placed  a  sacrifice  upon 
it.  To  make  the  trial  doubly  convincing  he  demanded 
that  barrel  after  barrel  of  water  be  poured  on  until  it 
“ran  around  about  the  altar  and  filled  the  trench.”  As 
he  invoked  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  of 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


209 


Israel,  “to  let  it  be  known  this  day  that  I  am  Thy 
servant,  and  that  I  have  done  these  things  at  Thy 
word,”  the  fire  of  the  Lord  fell  and  not  only  consumed 
the  sacrifices,  but  also  the  wood  and  the  stones  and  the 
dust  and  licked  up  the  water  that  was  in  the  trenches. 

The  king,  with  the  whole  multitude,  pronounced  the 
verdict.  Elijah  said  to  the  people,  “Take  the  prophets 
of  Baal;  let  not  one  of  them  escape.”  They  did  so 
and  “brought  them  down  to  the  brook  Kishon,  and 
slew  them  there.”  The  place  is  still  pointed  out,  and 
near  by  is  Tell  el  Kussis  (the  mound  of  the  priests), 
where  their  bodies  are  said  to  have  been  buried. 

Then  Elijah  cast  himself  upon  the  ground,  put  his 
face  between  his  knees,  and  prayed  earnestly  for  rain; 
but  it  did  not  come  until  his  servant  had  gone  up  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain  seven  times  and  looked  out 
upon  the  blue  waters  of  the  Mediterranean.  Then  “a 
little  cloud  like  a  man’s  hand,”  was  seen  to  rise  from 
the  sea.  Elijah  said  to  the  king,  “Prepare  thy  chariot 
and  get  thee  down,  that  the  rain  stop  thee  not.”  In 
the  meantime  “the  heaven  was  black  with  clouds  and 
wind  and  there  was  a  great  rain,”  and  the  drought  of 
three  years  and  a  half  was  brought  to  a  close. 

There  is  no  dispute  about  the  location  of  this  great 
tragedy.  The  only  question  about  the  whole  story  has 
been  where  Elijah  got  the  water  with  which  his  altar 
was  drenched.  There  is  no  spring  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood.  The  Mediterranean  is  eighteen  miles  distant, 
and  the  nearest  source  would  be  the  brook  of  Kishon, 
which  never  has  water  in  the  summer  and  must  have 
been  as  dry  as  a  bone  after  three  years  of  drought. 

At  the  foot  of  Mount  Carmel,  at  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  points  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Mediterra¬ 
nean,  has  been  established  a  colony  of  Germans  from 


2io  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

Wurtemberg  and  the  United  States.  It  is  an  object 
lesson  that  the  Turks  and  Arabs  should  study  with 
profit,  although  I  am  told  that  they  have  not  done  so. 
The  colonists  have  taken  up  about  i,8oo  acres  of  land, 
have  erected  comfortable  houses  of  modern  architecture 
and  conveniences,  built  schoolhouses,  cultivated  veg¬ 
etable  gardens,  planted  vineyards,  set  out  olive,  fig 
and  other  fruit-bearing  trees,  and  have  tilled  the  fertile 
plains  around  them  in  an  intelligent  manner  with 
labor-saving  machinery,  so  that  the  earth  has  produced 
abundantly,  and  the  advantage  of  using  brains  and 
modern  implements  in  farming  has  been  fully  demon¬ 
strated.  I  am  sure  that  the  example  of  these  thrifty 
and  industrious  people  cannot  be  entirely  lost  upon 
the  natives,  but  it  is  not  apparent  to  the  ordinary 
observer,  for  they  still  adhere  to  their  ancient  slovenly 
methods  and  filthy  habits  and  are  satisfied  with  the 
small  returns  they  receive  for  their  labor  because  their 
fathers  received  no  more. 

The  Germans  belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  sect  of 
the  “Temple,”  or  “Friends  of  Jerusalem,”  which  was 
founded  in  1857  by  Wilhelm  and  Christian  Hoffmann 
on  the  principle  that  the  duty  of  Christianity  is  to 
found  a  kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  Hoffmanns 
were  members  of  the  Pietist  branch  of  the  Lutheran 
denomination  in  Wurtemberg,  and  attempted  to  per¬ 
suade  its  members  to  join  in  the  colonization  of  the 
Holy  Land,  but  as  they  did  not  adopt  the  plan,  a  sep¬ 
arate  association,  called  the  “Friends  of  Jerusalem,” 
was  organized  to  establish  an  ideal  Christian  commu¬ 
nity  in  the  “Land  of  Promise”  and  to  commence  the 
regeneration  of  its  people  by  offering  an  example  of 
modern  civilization  and  honest  industry  to  the  Gen¬ 
tiles  and  the  Jews.  Five  colonies  have  been  estab- 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


21 1 


lished  at  Jerusalem,  Haifa,  Jaffa,  Sarona  and  in  the 
valley  of  Rephaim. 

The  colony  at  Haifa  was  begun  in  1869  and  now 
includes  570  souls,  of  whom  seventy-three  are  Ameri¬ 
cans.  The  remainder  are  from  Wurtemberg  and 
southern  Russia.  The  interest  of  Americans  in  this 
colony  is  especially  due  to  the  fact  that  its  leader  was 
Jacob  Schumaker  of  Buffalo,  who  was  sent  out  by  the 
members  of  the  Temple  Society  in  the  United  States 
in  1869  to  select  the  location  and  secure  the  land. 
Christian  Orldoff  of  Schenectady  accompanied  him. 
Having  found  the  country  around  Mount  Carmel  to 
their  taste,  they  bought  a  tract  and  obtained  from  the 
sultan  a  firman  authorizing  them  to  hold  the  titles  in 
their  own  names.  This,  I  believe,  was  the  first  time 
this  privilege  was  granted  to  foreigners.  Colonists 
came  from  the  German  Lutheran  communities  in 
Buffalo,  Philadelphia,  Schenectady  and  New  York 
City,  bringing  American  ideas,  American  methods  and 
American  tools  and  machinery  with  them. 

The  land  was  allotted  to  individuals  and  sold  at  a 
price  proportionate  to  its  cost,  streets  were  laid  out, 
reservations  were  made  for  churches  and  schoolhouses, 
hotels  and  other  public  purposes.  Dr.  Schumaker 
was  appointed  the  head  of  the  colony  and  remained  as 
such  until  his  death  in  1890,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son,  who  is  also  the  American  consular  agent. 
In  addition  to  their  farming,  the  colonists  breed  horses, 
cattle,  sheep  and  poultry;  they  have  a  large  soap  fac¬ 
tory,  from  which  they  ship  the  finest  of  castile  soap  to 
all  parts  of  the  world;  they  export  olive  oil  and  other 
local  products;  they  contract  for  the  erection  of  build¬ 
ings  in  all  parts  of  Palestine,  having  architects  and 
engineers  among  their  number;  they  furnish  horses, 


212  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


wagons  and  camping  outfits  to  pilgrims  and  tourists; 
they  keep  tourists’  hotels  throughout  Palestine  (which 
are  a  comfort  and  a  blessing,  for  they  are  always  neat 
and  comfortable)  and  do  a  great  variety  of  other 
things. 

The  Haifa  colony  is  a  beautiful  oasis  in  that  great 
moral  desert,  and  it  is  refreshing  for  travelers  to  find 
clean  hotels,  honest  people  and  clean  streets.  But, 
as  I  have  said,  their  example  has  made  very  little 
impression  upon  the  natives,  who  are  a  mongrel  race 
of  Arabs,  Ishmaelites,  Assyrians,  Greeks,  Romans, 
Egyptians,  Turks  and  Jews,  with  a  good  deal  of  Cru¬ 
sader  blood  mixed  in  them.  They  will  not  work,  nor 
will  they  adapt  themselves  to  modern  conditions. 
These  sons  of  Ishmael  and  Esau  prefer  to  live  from 
hand  to  mouth  for  various  reasons,  and  there  is  no 
inducement  for  them  to  accumulate  wealth,  because 
if  they  did  they  would  be  robbed  of  it  by  the  offi¬ 
cials.  No  man  can  accumulate  capital  in  that  coun¬ 
try,  no  man  can  become  better  off  than  his  neighbor 
without  exciting  the  avarice  of  the  Turks  and 
exposing  himself  to  blackmail  and  persecution. 
Therefore  the  Germans  have  a  difficult  task  before 
them.  Among  their  immediate  surroundings  much 
improvement  is  noticed.  The  City  of  Haifa  has  been 
regenerated  by  their  influence,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
most  attractive  towns  in  Syria.  Its  streets  are  com¬ 
paratively  clean,  its  shops  are  well  kept,  its  schools 
are  sufficient  for  the  education  of  the  Moslem  as  well 
as  the  Christian  population,  and  its  inhabitants  have  a 
reputation  among  their  neighbors  for  honest  dealing 
that  was  not  conceded  before  the  Germans  came. 

Haifa  might  become  a  town  of  importance  if  the 
railroad  to  Damascus,  which  was  started  a  few  years 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


213 


ago,  could  be  completed.  The  concession  was  given 
to  the  Thames  Iron  Company  of  London,  which  had 
graded  fifty-seven  miles,  with  a  splendid  roadbed, 
bridges  and  culverts  built  of  heavy  masonry,  and  had 
laid  six  miles  of  track  with  seventy-pound  rails,  when 
the  governor  of  the  province  stopped  the  work  by 
order  of  the  sultan  and  has  not  allowed  it  to  be 
resumed.  Recently,  however,  as  related  in  another 
chapter,  the  franchise  and  property  have  been  sur¬ 
rendered  to  the  Government,  which  is  expected  to 
renew  them  to  a  German  syndicate.  This  syndicate  is 
expected  to  complete  the  road  to  Damascus,  and 
improve  the  harbor,  which  will  make  Haifa  as  import¬ 
ant  a  port  as  Beirut. 

No  Biblical  interest  attaches  to  Haifa.  It  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  the  only  great  historical 
events  associated  with  the  place  occurred  in  the  year 
1 100,  when  it  was  besieged  and  captured  by  Tancred, 
the  Crusader,  and  in  1898,  when  it  was  visited  by  the 
German  kaiser.  The  Turkish  government  took  a 
great  deal  of  trouble  and  spent  a  great  deal  of  money 
to  show  its  respect  for  Wilhelm  II.  and  to  make  his 
journey  in  the  Holy  Land  pleasant  and  profitable.  It 
was  a  great  thing  for  the  country,  too,  and  travelers 
this  very  day  are  enjoying  noticeable  advantages  due 
entirely  to  his  visit. 

Before  he  came  Palestine  was  almost  entirely  desti¬ 
tute  of  roads.  Since  the  days  of  the  Romans  road 
building  has  been  a  lost  art.  In  fact  the  Turks  and 
the  Arabs  do  not  care  anything  about  roads,  any  more 
than  about  boats,  because  they  travel  on  the  backs  of 
animals  and  never  use  wheeled  vehicles  for  any  pur¬ 
pose.  Therefore  a  camel  track  is  good  enough  for 
them,  and  they  are  willing  that  foreigners  should  fol- 


214  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


low  their  example  without  indulging  in  the  luxury  of 
carriages  and  wagons.  Hence  Palestine  had  probably 
the  worst  roads  in  the  world.  But  when  the  emperor 
decided  to  visit  the  Holy  Land  the  sultan  employed  a 
number  of  German  engineers  and  under  their  direction 
set  his  army  at  work  to  build  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  of  macadamized  roads  to  the  points  his  fellow 
sovereign  desired  to  reach.  Most  of  them  are  in  good 
condition  to-day,  although  they  have  not  been  repaired 
since  1898,  and  under  the  heavy  rains  that  occur  in  the 
winter  are  gradually  washing  out. 

A  new  pier  at  Haifa  was  also  built  by  the  Turkish 
government,  because  the  old  one  is  awkward  and  dan¬ 
gerous  for  landing.  Dr.  Schumaker,  the  American 
consular  agent,  was  the  contractor,  and  made  a  good 
job  of  it.  The  pier  is  a  solid  mass  of  masonry  and 
concrete  and  was  intended  to  be  immortal.  It  was 
never  used  but  once,  however,  and  that  was  when  the 
emperor  landed. 

His  reception  by  the  German  colonists  was  the 
greatest  function  ever  held  in  Haifa.  They  made  him 
speeches  and  presents,  they  sang  the  songs  of  the 
fatherland  and  little  girls  presented  flowers  to  the 
empress  and  ladies  of  her  suite.  His  majesty  took  a 
great  interest  in  everything.  Pie  visited  the  schools 
and  ordered  a  new  outfit  of  furniture  to  be  shipped 
from  Berlin.  He  went  to  the  soap  factory  and  pur¬ 
chased  enough  of  its  products  to  wash  all  Germany. 
He  visited  the  stables  and  the  blacksmith  shop,  and 
was  so  pleased  with  everything,  and  particularly  with 
the  loyalty  of  the  colonists,  that  he  has  since  given  an 
annual  subsidy  to  each  of  the  colonies  of  4,000  marks. 
This  manifestation  of  interest  was  very  important  to 
the  welfare  of  the  colonists,  for  it  strengthened  their 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


215 


position  with  the  Turkish  government  and  impressed 
the  officials  with  the  propriety  of  respecting  them. 
These  officials  understand  the  relations  that  exist 
between  the  sultan  and  the  kaiser  and  appreciate  the 
fact  that  Germany  has  for  years  been  standing  off  the 
other  European  powers  whenever  they  have  threatened 
Turkey.  The  colonists  have  suffered  a  great  deal  of 
annoyance  from  the  local  officials  and  provincial 
authorities,  who,  like  all  Turks,  are  opposed  to  every¬ 
thing  foreign  and  look  upon  infidels  as  their  proper 
prey.  In  assessing  and  collecting  taxes,  in  authoriz¬ 
ing  the  sale  of  land  and  in  various  other  official  trans¬ 
actions  they  were  formerly  very  extortionate  and  ugly, 
but  since  the  emperor’s  visit  they  have  been  more 
reasonable. 

The  colonies  are  governed  by  a  council  elected  by 
the  members,  which  meets  periodically  at  Jerusalem, 
where  they  own  a  large  tract  of  land  just  outside  the 
city  walls  and  have  a  village  of  400  or  500  people  with 
fine  buildings,  neat  streets,  well-kept  gardens  and 
every  evidence  of  German  industry  and  thrift.  There 
are  a  few  Americans  among  them.  The  colony  at 
Jaffa  numbers  360,  and  that  at  Sarona,  near  Jaffa,  400. 
There  are  no  Americans  in  the  Jaffa  colony  and  only 
a  few  at  Sarona.  The  other  colony  in  the  valley  of 
Rephaim  numbers  420,  with  a  few  Americans.  All  the 
colonies  are  equally  prosperous,  especially  in  trade, 
and  are  increasing  gradually  by  recruits  from  the 
United  States,  Germany  and  southern  Russia. 

Dr.  Schumaker,  the  United  States  consular  agent  at 
Haifa,  who  is  a  topographical  engineer  and  archeolo¬ 
gist,  has  made  a  detailed  survey  of  the  country  east  of 
the  Jordan  and  a  topographical  map  of  that  section  for 
the  English  and  German  Palestine  societies.  The 


216  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


same  organization  has  employed  him  to  make  excava¬ 
tions  on  the  plain  of  Megiddo,  where  Barak  and  Debo¬ 
rah  defeated  the  Canaanites,  as  related  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  Judges.  Ahaziah,  King  of  Judah,  died  there 
when  wounded  by  Jehu;  Josiah  fought  the  Egyptian 
army  and  was  defeated  on  this  plain,  and  Solomon 
afterward  erected  extensive  fortifications  there  to  com¬ 
mand  the  trails  from  Damascus  southward. 

The  ancient  city  of  Acre,  which  during  the  Crusades 
was  one  of  the  most  famous  and  most  talked  of  places 
in  all  the  world,  and  where  for  two  centuries  the  com¬ 
merce  of  the  sea  and  the  products  of  the  plains  of 
Palestine  met,  lies  across  the  bay  from  Haifa  in  a  state 
of  abject  hopelessness  and  slumber.  It  has  a  popula¬ 
tion  of  about  6,000  people,  mostly  soldiers  and  Mos¬ 
lems,  and  is  said  to  be  more  Turkish  than  any  other 
town  in  Syria.  The  inhabitants  are  fiercely  fanatical, 
even  more  so  than  in  Arabia  or  other  parts  of  Turkey, 
and  during  the  feast  of  Ramazan,  the  holy  week  of  the 
Mohammedans,  it  is  not  safe  for  Christians  to  go  about 
the  streets.  A  large  part  of  them  are  there  involunta¬ 
rily,  either  as  prisoners  or  members  of  the  garrison. 

The  sultan  uses  the  venerable  fortresses  of  the  Cru¬ 
saders  as  prisons,  and  sends  down  from  Constantinople 
and  other  parts  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  for  temporary 
or  permanent  detention  in  Acre  people  whom  he  does 
not  trust.  The  hotels  and  boarding-houses  are  full  of 
suspects,  who  can  be  easily  watched  by  the  soldiers, 
for  there  is  no  way  of  escape  except  by  sea  or  across 
soul-chilling  quicksands  and  pitfalls.  The  climate  is 
not  very  healthful,  owing  to  the  miasma  that  rises  from 
a  neighboring  marsh,  but  otherwise  Acre  is  a  comfort¬ 
able  place  to  live  in.  It  is  a  question  whether  the 
soldiers  are  not  more  wretched  than  the  prisoners  they 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


217 


guard,  but  fortunately  they  do  not  know  it.  Turks 
make  good  soldiers.  They  are  easily  susceptible  to 
discipline,  and  the  doctrine  of  fatalism  makes  them 
fierce  fighters.  Any  man  who  is  killed  while  defend¬ 
ing  the  sultan  or  the  doctrines  of  Islam  goes  straight 
to  paradise  on  a  through  limited  ticket. 

The  army  is  filled  by  conscription,  but  Christians  are 
not  impressed.  This  is  because  the  sultan  does  not 
trust  them,  and  not  for  any  consideration  of  their  faith 
or  prejudices.  Every  Jew,  Greek,  Armenian,  Maro- 
nite,  Druse  and  other  unbeliever  of  military  age  has  to 
pay  a  tax  amounting  to  about  $3  a  year  in  lieu  of  mili¬ 
tary  service,  which  ought  to  make  him  very  happy; 
for,  although  under  the  law  conscripts  are  not  sup¬ 
posed  to  serve  more  than  three  years,  a  man  who  once 
gets  into  the  Turkish  army  finds  it  difficult  to  get  out. 

You  can  sail  across  the  bay  from  Haifa  to  Acre,  six 
miles,  or  drive  around  nine  miles  upon  a  solid  beach 
as  good  as  those  of  Atlantic  City  or  Cape  May,  except 
here  and  there  are  quicksands  which  change  their 
location  in  a  most  mysterious  manner  and  can  only  be 
detected  by  experienced  eyes.  Fringing  the  beach 
are  groups  of  stately  palms  to  admire,  and  wrecks  are 
strewn  upon  the  shore  to  excite  wonder  and  curiosity. 
Acre  used  to  have  a  harbor  in  the  Crusader’s  period  of 
its  glory,  and  was  visited  by  ships  from  all  over  the 
world,  but  now  it  is  filled  with  sand  and  soil  brought 
down  from  the  mountains  during  the  rainy  season  by 
the  River  Kishon.  The  insecurity  of-  the  roadstead  is 
due  to  its  hard  stone  bottom,  which  leaves  an  anchor 
nothing  to  cling  to,  and  winter  gales  sweep  across  the 
headland  of  Mount  Carmel  with  great  force.  There  is 
no  possibility  of  a  ship  beating  out  to  sea,  and  if  its 
anchor  drags  or  gives  way  it  must  inevitably  go  ashore. 


218  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Upon  this  beach,  according  to  Pliny,  the  art  of  glass¬ 
making  was  discovered  by  a  party  of  Phoenician  sail¬ 
ors.  While  cooking  their  dinner  the  sand  melted  into 
lumps  of  a  vitreous  appearance,  which  led  to  an  inves¬ 
tigation.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  story.  It  is 
as  ancient  as  the  town  itself,  and  according  to  history 
the  first  glass  factories  were  at  the  neighboring  towns 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  while  yet  the  Israelites  were  in 
Egypt.  The  town  of  Acre  was  of  no  importance  then, 
but  you  will  remember  that  Sidon  was  a  considerable 
city  while  Jacob  was  working  seven  years  for  his  wife. 

Acre  was  the  last  refuge  of  the  Crusaders  in  the  Holy 
Land,  and  their  fortifications  stand  to-day  almost  as 
they  left  them,  with  only  the  changes  of  natural  decay. 
On  the  sea  front  is  a  stretch  of  wall  which  was  battered 
to  ruins  and  never  rebuilt,  and  what  was  once  the  finest 
Christian  church  in  the  East  is  now  a  khan  for  stabling 
camels  and  entertaining  traveling  traders.  It  has  a 
noble  cloister  supported  by  pillars  of  rare  marbles  and 
granite  stolen  by  the  knights  templar  from  pagan  tem¬ 
ples,  but  nowadays  their  beauty  is  wasted  upon  camel 
drivers. 

The  fortifications  seem  very  formidable,  but  they 
could  not  stand  long  against  modern  artillery.  They 
are  still  equipped  with  nearly  four  hundred  cannon, 
but  most  of  them  ought  to  go  into  an  ordnance  museum. 
Upon  one  of  the  largest  guns,  which  is  supposed  to 
command  the  approach  to  the  harbor,  is  the  motto, 
“Ultima  Ratio  Regnum.’>  It  sounds  as  if  the  inscrip¬ 
tion  were  intended  for  satire. 

Acre  has  no  business  or  prosperity  which  does  not 
depend  upon  its  garrison  or  its  prisoners,  and  most  of 
the  inhabitants  make  their  living  off  one  or  the  other. 
Some  of  the  prisoners  have  a  good  deal  of  money,  and 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


219 


are  allowed  to  spend  it  freely  by  paying  liberal 
baksheesh  to  the  officials  and  guards  in  charge  of 
them.  Martial  law  prevails  within  the  walls,  and  the 
municipal  regulations  are  framed  upon  military  dis¬ 
cipline.  There  is  but  one  gate  on  the  land  side  and 
one  opens  to  the  shipping  in  the  harbor.  Both  are 
closed  at  sunset. 

The  most  interesting  prisoner  at  Acre  at  present  is 
Abbas  Effendi,  a  learned  Persian  prophet,  who  pro¬ 
claims  a  new  religion,  and  is  the  head  of  the  sect 
known  as  Babies,  or  Babites,  so  called  from  the  word 
Bab,  which  means  a  gate.  The  founder  of  the  sect,  a 
Persian  of  high  rank,  a  member  of  the  Seyid  and  a 
direct  descendant  of  Mohammed,  called  himself  “The 
Gate  to  God,”  hence  the  name  of  his  followers.  He 
was  a  Persian  merchant,  Mirza  Ali  Mohammed,  born 
at  Shiraz  in  1820.  In  1844  he  claimed  to  have  visions. 
His  pretensions  were  very  much  like  those  of  Moham¬ 
med,  and  he  declared  that  through  him  alone  could 
mankind  receive  the  truth  and  reach  heaven.  With 
Husein,  a  moulah  or  priest  of  the  Moslem  church, 
from  Bushru  in  the  province  of  Khurasan,  Persia,  he 
retired  to  a  monastery  at  Kerbela  on  the  Euphrates, 
and  there  spent  several  years  in  fasting,  meditation 
and  study  to  prepare  himself  for  a  great  duty  to  which 
he  had  been  assigned. 

Syria  seems  to  be  the  birthplace  of  religions.  Juda¬ 
ism,  Christianity,  Mohammedanism  and  innumerable 
other  faiths  have  originated  in  its  deserts.  No  great 
religious  movement  except  Brahmanism  and  Buddhism 
originated  elsewhere.  Since  the  crucifixion  innumer¬ 
able  messiahs  and  prophets  have  arisen  and  disap¬ 
peared  in  this  little  country,  and  I  have  been  asking 
all  the  wise  men  I  have  met  why  that  should  be  what 


220  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


there  is  in  the  atmosphere  that  develops  prophets  and 
teachers  and  fanatics?  Why  should  they  be  bred  in 
this  monotonous  desert  life  without  distractions,  and 
surrounded  by  the  powerful  idolaters  of  Egypt  and 
Babylonia?  Perhaps  the  solitude  of  the  desert  leads 
to  reflection  and  the  sunsets  may  excite  the  imagina¬ 
tion,  but  as  yet  I  have  received  no  satisfactory  expla¬ 
nation  of  the  phenomenon. 

The  history  of  the  Babite  movement  is  similar  to 
that  of  others.  As  soon  as  its  leader  began  to  make 
his  influence  felt  and  his  disciples  multiplied,  the  gov¬ 
ernment  persecuted  them,  and  then  of  course  he  grew 
in  strength  and  popularity.  He  went  about  the 
country  preaching  and  teaching,  and  at  his  death 
Moulah  Husein  declared  him  to  have  been  a  divine 
being,  and  that  only  those  who  believed  in  him  would 
be  saved.  Husein  played  the  part  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  St.  Peter  combined  and  became  the  head  of  the 
sect.  He  was  arrested,  condemned  and  executed  for 
heresy  and  sedition  in  1850,  but  it  only  strengthened 
the  movement,  and  his  disciples  increased  rapidly  in 
numbers,  zeal  and  fanaticism.  It  became  a  religious 
war.  A  new  leader,  Moulah  Mohammed  Ali,  appeared, 
took  up  headquarters  at  Bagdad,  organized  an  army 
and  attempted  to  force  the  new  faith  upon  the  govern¬ 
ment.  Battles  were  fought,  thousands  of  persons  were 
massacred,  and  finally,  in  1866,  the  Shah  of  Persia, 
finding  his  throne  in  danger,  appealed  to  the  Sultan 
of  Turkey,  who  sent  troops  to  his  assistance. 

The  leaders  of  the  movement  were  captured  and  sent 
to  Adrianople,  in  European  Turkey,  where  they  were 
confined  in  the  Turkish  citadel,  and  soon  began  to 
quarrel  among  themselves,  the  sons  of  the  Messiah  and 
the  descendants  of  the  prophet  Husein,  each  claiming 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  ELIJAH 


221 


to  be  the  head  of  the  church.  Beha,  who  seems  to 
have  been  the  ablest  of  them,  was  sent  to  the  prison  at 
Acre  and  Mirza  was  sent  to  Cyprus.  In  1884  Mirza 
obtained  permission  from  the  authorities  to  send 
ambassadors  to  Acre  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
the  two  factions,  but  his  envoys  were  murdered  by 
agents  of  Beha,  and  since  then  very  little  has  been 
heard  from  the  Cyprus  branch. 

Beha’s  following,  however,  continues  to  grow  and 
now  numbers  several  hundred  thousand.  Beha  died  in 
1888  and  his  eldest  son,  Abbas  Effendi,  succeeded  him 
as  chief  priest  of  the  Babites.  He  is  a  clever,  learned 
and  respectable  man,  having  a  magnetic  presence, 
attractive  manners  and  a  great  deal  of  tact.  Some 
years  ago  he  sent  disciples  to  America  to  carry  the 
gospel  of  the  Babites,  who  have  met  with  considerable 
success.  Their  chief  representative  is  a  Mr.  Chairall, 
who  resides  in  New  York  and  has  translated  into  the 
English  language  and  published  a  series  of  volumes 
setting  forth  the  creed  and  principles  of  the  new  faith. 
Abbas  claims  to  be  a  Christian.  He  worships  God, 
accepts  Christ,  but  claims  himself  to  be  the  embodi¬ 
ment  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  third  member  of  the  God¬ 
head.  The  fundamental  principle,  as  he  explains  it, 
is  to  love  your  fellow  men  and  do  good,  but  an 
ordinary  mind  like  mine  finds  it  impossible  to  follow 
the  intricate  reasoning  by  which  he  proves  himself  to 
be  the  gate  to  heaven. 

Abbas  Effendi  is  a  fascinating  mystic,  a  man  of 
most  impressive  presence  and  conversation,  and  his 
voice  is  musical  and  mesmerizing.  He  seems  to  have 
a  mercenary  tendency,  however,  for  he  never  lets  an 
American  leave  him  without  an  appeal  for  funds  for 
the  propagation  of  the  faith. 


222  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


He  has  been  quite  successful  in  that,  as  in  other 
directions.  Every  year  numbers  of  Americans  come 
to  see  him  and  have  brought  him  gifts  of  money,  the 
most  of  which  has  been  used  in  the  construction  of  a 
shrine  and  temple  upon  Mount  Carmel,  above  the  town 
of  Haifa,  where  Abbas  Effendi  intended  to  bury  the 
remains  of  his  father  and  establish  the  center  of  his 
church.  As  the  movement  is  supposed  to  be  secret  the 
Turkish  authorities  became  alarmed  at  the  number  of 
American  visitors  and  their  liberal  contributions,  so 
Abbas  Effendi  was  prohibited  from  leaving  Acre,  and 
has  not  been  able  to  complete  the  shrine.  The  walls 
are  up,  the  roof  is  laid,  and  part  of  the  interior  finished. 
For  the  time  being  the  Babite  movement  is  in  a  posi¬ 
tion  of  arrested  development,  but  Abbas  Effendi  is 
full  of  faith  and  confidence,  and  says  that  if  his 
American  supporters  are  loyal  he  expects  soon  to  per¬ 
suade  the  Turkish  authorities  to  set  him  free  to  carry 
salvation  to  all  the  earth. 


XI 

From  Mount  Carmel  to  Nazareth 

* 


223 


XI 


FROM  MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH 

The  air  was  filled  with  the  songs  of  birds  when  we 
were  called  one  morning  for  a  long  ride  to  Nazareth. 
Nowhere  do  the  birds  sing  so  loudly  and  so  lively  as 
at  Haifa,  and  their  plumage  is  as  bright  as  their  songs. 
Everything  in  nature  seems  to  be  alive  and  happy.  The 
gardens  of  the  German  colony  are  glowing  with  color, 
the. fruit  trees  are  masses  of  blossoms,  and  the  vines 
are  running  over  the  walls  as  fast  as  Jonah’s  gourd. 
The  hotel  at  Haifa  is  comfortable.  It  is  kept  by  a 
member  of  the  German  colony,  with  his  wife  and  sons 
and  daughters  to  assist  him  in  the  frugal  German  way, 
and  it  is  a  grateful  oasis  for  a  traveler  to  find  in  the 
desert.  But  all  the  hotels  in  Palestine  that  are  kept 
by  Germans  are  good.  They  are  clean  and  the  food  is 
plain  but  wholesome.  You  will  not  find  the  luxuries 
and  conveniences  that  are  offered  in  the  large  cities, 
of  course,  but  you  will  not  have  to  fight  over  your  bills 
every  time  as  you  do  in  Italy  and  other  parts  of 
Turkey.  Instead  of  trying  to  rob  you  these  German 
landlords  take  a  hospitable  interest  in  your  welfare 
and  make  you  as  comfortable  as  possible,  and  I  think 
the  wienerschnitzel  and  fried  potatoes  that  we  had 
when  we  arrived  half  famished  after  a  long  and  tire¬ 
some  ride,  tasted  better  than  anything  I  ever  had  at 
the  Waldorf. 

We  hired  some  wagons  that  were  made  at  Tioga, 
Penn.,  from  another  member  of  the  German  colony, 
who  sent  his  son  to  drive  and  look  after  us,  and  we 

225 


226  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


were  assured  that  the  vehicle  was  the  identical  one  that 
carried  the  German  emperor  through  Palestine.  A 
certain  skeptic,  who  is  not  worthy  of  notice,  declared 
that  everybody  who  has  come  to  Palestine  since  has 
ridden  in  that  very  carriage,  and  that  eleven  of  them 
are  for  hire,  but  John,  our  faithful  cicerone,  expos¬ 
tulated  sincerely  and  assured  us  that  we  only,  out  of 
the  host  of  tourists,  were  allowed  to  use  the  emperor’s 
chariot. 

John  is  not  handsome;  he  does  not  travel  on  his 
shape,  and  the  cut  and  fit  of  his  garments  make  it  clear 
that  he  is  not  vain.  He  does  not  hang  strings  of  beads 
around  the  necks  of  his  horses  to  keep  off  the  evil  eye 
as  the  rest  of  the  people  do  down  in  that  country,  and 
perhaps  that  is  a  drawback,  but  otherwise  he  is  faith¬ 
ful,  truthful,  candid  and  enduring.  We  have  seen  a 
good  deal  of  John  under  one  circumstance  and  another, 
but  never  saw  him  angry  or  tired,  and  if  you  want  to 
test  the  truthfulness  of  a  driver,  question  him  about 
distances.  A  Spaniard,  a  Frenchman,  an  Italian  or  an 
Arab,  out  of  politeness,  will  make  them  short  or  long  as 
they  think  will  please  you  best,  and  then  rely  on  their 
ingenuity  to  keep  up  the  deception,  but  John  and  the 
Norwegians  who  drove  us  last  summer  are  inexorably 
exact,  and  there  was  a  degree  of  consolation  in  the 
feeling  that  John  is  a  pessimist  and  always  makes  the 
distance  longer  than  it  really  is.  He  has  driven  us 
many  miles  in  Palestine  over  all  sorts  of  roads,  mostly 
bad  ones,  and  never  underestimated  a  distance.  We 
always  knew  when  he  said  it  was  four  miles  to  the 
next  destination,  that  it  couldn’t  be  more  than  two 
and  a  half,  and  he  would  still  be  a  long  distance  off 
when  we  were  actually  at  the  gates.  I  take  this  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  offer  an  humble  tribute  to  John  as  a  man 


MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH 


227 


worthy  of  confidence  in  a  land  where  such  men  are 
few,  although  he  does  insist  that  the  Emperor  of  Ger¬ 
many  rode  in  our  carriage,  or  that  we  rode  in  his.  I 
hope  he  will  never  become  contaminated  by  contact 
with  imaginative  Arabs. 

The  one-eyed  town  crier,  who  takes  the  place  of  a 
morning  newspaper  at  Haifa,  was  just  starting  out  to 
announce  the  arrival  of  a  steamer  for  Jaffa  as  we  drove 
away  from  the  hotel.  Like  Jehu,  John  plunged  reck¬ 
lessly  through  the  narrow  streets,  yelling  and  whistling 
to  scare  people  out  of  the  way,  and  cracking  his  whip 
as  loud  as  the  report  of  a  revolver  as  he  approached  a 
turning  place.  The  streets  are  very  narrow,  scarcely 
wide  enough  for  a  wagon;  articles  exposed  for  sale  in 
front  of  the  shops  had  a  close  shave,  and  the  foot 
passengers  we  met  squeezed  up  against  the  wall  to  let 
us  pass  by.  But  they  did  not  seem  to  be  indignant 
about  it.  They  were  probably  used  to  having  their 
shins  scraped  by  the  hub  of  a  wheel.  It  is  almost 
unavoidable  in  that  country. 

After  leaving  the  town  the  road  runs  along  the  base 
of  Mount  Carmel  beside  the  abandoned  railway  track  of 
which  I  told  you  in  a  previous  chapter.  The  tops  of  the 
walls  were  covered  with  flowering  vines  of  purple,  and 
a  blanket  of  wild  flowers  seems  to  have  been  spread 
over  the  pastures  and  other  unplowed  ground.  We 
found  almost  all  of  our  field  flowers  there  and  several 
others  that  are  unfamiliar,  and  the  colors  seem  brighter 
than  they  do  at  home,  although  I  presume  that  it  is 
an  illusion  caused  by  the  contrast  with  the  naked 
rocks  and  dreary  sands.  But  one  thing  is  certain, 
wherever  there  is  a  patch  of  fertile  soil  in  Palestine  it 
may  be  depended  upon  to  do  its  level  best,  like  the 
chief  end  of  man,  to  glorify  God  and  enjoy  Him  forever. 


228  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Caravans  of  camels  came  in  close  succession  toward 
town  loaded  with  firewood,  and  such  firewood  as  an 
ordinary  American  would  reject  with  indignation. 
Timber  is  scarce  in  those  countries,  and  a  tree  is  sel¬ 
dom  chopped  down.  They  trim  off  the  dead  limbs 
and  use  the  prunings  of  the  vines  and  the  fruit  orchards 
and  hedges  for  fuel.  Every  little  branch  and  twig  is 
carefully  laid  away  in  the  sun  and  wind  to  dry,  and 
when  they  are  thoroughly  cured  they  are  cut  up  into 
fagots,  tied  in  bundles,  piled  on  the  back  of  a  camel  or 
an  asino,  and  taken  to  town  to  be  sold  in  the  markets 
for  firewood.  Herds  of  goats  with  their  udders  dis¬ 
tended  were  coming  in  to  be  milked,  and  droves  of 
donkeys  loaded  with  vegetables  and  freshly  cut  fodder, 
and  one  solitary  yoke  of  cows  hauling  a  wagon.  Most 
of  the  heavy  teaming  about  the  towns  is  done  upon 
enormous  carts  by  yoked  buffaloes.  Building  stone  and 
other  material  of  similar  weight  is  hauled  in  that  way, 
but  you  seldom  see  a  yoke  of  cattle  used  for  teaming 
upon  the  farms.  They  are  yoked  to  plows  in  every 
direction.  Few  horses  are  used  for  plowing.  The 
cattle  are  broken  to  the  yoke  at  a  very  early  age,  when 
they  are  calves,  and  few  farmers  have  carts.  All  their 
transportation  is  done  upon  the  backs  of  donkeys  and 
camels. 

Women  and  men  were  working  together  in  the  fields 
planting  and  hoeing,  setting  out  young  trees,  repairing 
irrigating  ditches  and  doing  other  spring  work,  and, 
judging  by  appearances,  the  equality  of  the  sexes  is 
recognized  in  Palestine,  as  in  other  parts  of  the  East, 
wherever  there  is  any  hard  work  to  be  done. 

We  followed  the  edge  of  the  River  Kishon,  which  was 
then  quite  well  filled  with  water,  but  goes  dry  in  the 
early  summer.  Like  most  of  the  rivers  of  Palestine  it 


MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH 


229 


goes  to  extremes.  It  is  either  a  flood  or  a  drought. 
Shepherds  were  bringing  their  flocks  down  from  the 
sides  of  Mount  Carmel  to  be  watered,  and  they 
generally  have  to  go  a  good  ways  for  water.  Some  of 
them  wore  the  Bedouin  costumes,  and  nearly  all  the 
flocks  were  the  property  of  Bedouins,  who  galloped 
around  with  hooded  heads  and  flowing  garments  and 
guns  across  the  pommels  of  their  saddles,  just  as  you 
see  them  in  the  pictures  of  Oriental  life;  but  their 
horses  are  a  disappointment,  and  in  that  respect  the 
pictures  we  are  familiar  with  are  inaccurate.  A  good 
horse  among  the  Bedouins  of  that  part  of  the  world 
is  an  exception.  Whenever  you  see  one  it  is  not 
ridden  by  a  Bedouin,  but  always  by  some  gentleman 
from  town. 

The  road  is  good.  It  was  built  for  the  emperor,  and 
although  it  is  out  of  repair  in  spots,  will  last  for  sev¬ 
eral  years  longer.  We  crossed  the  River  Kishon  by  a 
splendid  bridge  of  stone  near  where  the  prophets  of 
Baal  were  brought  down  from  Carmel  to  be  slaught¬ 
ered,  and  could  see  the  spot  where  Elijah  sent  his 
servant  seven  times  to  look  across  the  sea  for  signs  of 
rain,  and  then  entered  upon  the  famous  plain  of 
Esdraelon,  which  has  been  called  “The  Battlefield  of 
Palestine,”  the  scene  of  more  history  than  any  other 
plain  in  the  world,  for  upon  it  the  greatest  empires, 
faiths  and  races  have  contended  for  supremacy  since 
the  time  of  Saul's  willfulness  and  superstition,  and 
each  has  come  to  judgment. 

It  is  possible  that  the  battle  in  which  the  ark  was 
taken  and  the  sons  of  Eli  killed  was  upon  this  same 
spot,  but  that  is  not  definite.  There  is  no  doubt,  how¬ 
ever,  that  it  was  the  scene  of  David’s  first  great  battle, 
where  “the  Philistines  gathered  together  all  their 


230  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


armies  to  Aphek,  and  the  Israelites  pitched  by  a 
fountain  which  is  in  Jezreel."  You  can  find  out  all 
about  it  in  the  28th  chapter  of  I  Samuel. 

It  was  from  there,  too,  that  Saul  went  to  see  the  witch 
of  Endor,  who  lived  in  a  wretched  little  town  about 
four  miles  away.  There  are  many  caves  in  the  hill¬ 
side,  and  one  of  them,  of  course,  is  pointed  out  as  the 
actual  residence  of  the  witch,  although  no  affidavit 
goes  with  the  story.  Near  by  Endor  is  the  little  vil¬ 
lage  of  Nain,  rendered  forever  memorable  and  blessed 
because  Jesus  raised  the  widow’s  son  from  the  dead. 
Nain  was  once  a  town  of  considerable  importance,  but 
is  now  little  more  than  a  shapeless  mass  of  ruins, 
among  which  a  few  mud  huts  still  stand. 

You  will  remember  that  ‘The  men  of  Israel  fled  from 
before  the  Philistines,  and  the  Philistines  followed 
hard  upon  Saul  and  upon  his  sons,  and  the  Philistines 
slew  Jonathan  and  Aminadab  and  Melchishua,  Saul’s 
sons,”  and  Saul  himself  "was  sore  wounded  of  the 
archers”  and  commanded  his  armor  bearer  to  kill  him, 
but  his  armor  bearer  would  not,  "for  he  was  sore 
afraid."  Therefore,  "Saul  took  a  sword  and  fell  upon 
it;  and  so  Saul  died,  and  his  three  sons,  and  his  armor 
bearer  and  all  his  men,  the  same  day  together,"  and 
David  lamented  with  this  lamentation  over  Saul,  and 
over  Jonathan,  his  son: 

"I  am  distressed  for  thee,  my  brother  Jonathan,”  he 
sobbed;  "very  pleasant  hast  thou  been  unto  me;  thy 
love  to  me  was  wonderful,  passing  the  love  of  women.” 

The  battle  between  Barak  and  Sisera,  directed  by 
Deborah,  the  prophetess,  occurred  upon  this  same 
plain,  and  the  description  in  the  Bible  is  one  of  the 
noblest  pen-pictures  in  all  literature.  Barak  and 
Deborah,  with  their  small  body  of  devoted  troops, 


MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH 


231 


gathered  on  the  summit  of  Mount  Tabor,  while  the 
hosts  of  Sisera,  with  900  iron  chariots,  were  encamped 
near  a  little  village  called  Taanach,  which  still  exists 
and  preserves  its  name.  The  prophetess,  standing 
upon  the  summit  of  Tabor,  gave  the  order  for  the 
battle  before  daylight,  and  Barak  fell  upon  the  sleep¬ 
ing  hosts  of  the  Canaanites  without  warning.  “The 
stars  in  their  courses  fought  against  Sisera/’  the  Bible 
says,  “the  rains  descended,  the  winds  blew,  the  floods 
came,”  and  the  900  chariots  and  horsemen  were  driven 
in  a  terrible  panic  down  into  the  narrow  valley  through 
which  our  carriage  passed,  trampling  upon  one  another 
until  “the  River  of  Kishon  swept  them  away;  that 
ancient  river,  the  River  Kishon.” 

The  famous  plain  of  Esdraelon  is  a  wide  rent  between 
the  two  ranges  of  mountains  which  run  east  and  west 
across  central  Palestine.  It  has  an  uneven  surface, 
undulating  like  great  waves  of  the  sea  from  the  shores 
of  the  Mediterranean  to  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  and 
is  widest  where  it  reaches  straight  across  without 
interruption  from  the  hills  of  Galilee  to  those  of 
Samaria.  The  eastern  portion  is  known,  for  sake  of 
distinction,  as  the  plain  of  Megiddo;  the  central  por¬ 
tion,  near  Nazareth,  as  the  valley  of  Jezreel,  and  the 
whole  as  Esdraelon.  The  soil  is  surpassingly  fertile, 
and  nearly  all  the  arable  land  is  under  cultivation.  In 
the  spring  of  the  year  the  whole  surface  is  a  vivid 
green,  being  almost  entirely  sown  to  wheat,  barley  and 
millet.  The  uneven  surfaces  are  covered  with  mul¬ 
berry,  fig  and  olive  groves,  which  are  full  of  tender 
leaves,  and  here  and  there  are  groups  of  palms  and 
hedges  of  prickly  pear,  which  add  variety  to  the  scene. 

The  slopes  of  the  mountains  and  hills  are  dotted  with 
villages,  in  which  the  farmers  live,  almost  all  of  them 


232  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


retaining  their  ancient  names,  and  many  are  mentioned 
in  the  Scriptures.  At  various  places  ruins  appear, 
sometimes  a  castle  of  the  Crusaders,  sometimes  an 
ancient  Roman  settlement,  which  has  fallen  into  decay 
and  is  partially  buried.  There  are  other  sites  where 
nothing  but  tombs  remain  to  tell  the  story  of  an  extinct 
civilization.  The  richness  of  the  earth  is  due  largely 
to  the  heavy  rains  which  wash  the  particles  of  soil  and 
the  disintegrating  rocks  from  the  mountains,  but,  curi¬ 
ously  enough,  in  that  great  area  there  is  no  running 
stream  and  scarcely  a  trace  of  water. 

Across  this  plain  for  4,000  years  was  the  great  trail 
of  the  nations,  and  it  naturally  became  the  arena  of 
war  between  the  lowlanders,  who  trusted  in  their 
chariots,  the  Ishmaelites,  who  fought  from  the  saddle, 
and  the  Israelite  highlanders  of  the  surrounding  moun¬ 
tains.  Its  fame  as  a  battlefield  suggested  to  St.  John 
its  adoption  in  the  Apocalypse  as  an  illustration  of  the 
scene  of  the  final  struggle  between  the  hosts  of  good 
and  evil — “the  place  which  is  called  in  the  Hebrew 
tongue  Armageddon,  that  is,  the  Valley  of  Megiddo.” 

We  stopped  to  lunch  on  the  top  of  a  ridge  in  a  grove 
of  ancient  oaks,  surrounded  by  water-worn  rocks, 
which  cropped  out  of  a  soil  that  was  carpeted  with 
moss  and  flowers,  and  the  sunny  sides  of  all  the  little 
mounds  were  blazing  with  the  most  beautiful  anemones 
of  intense  scarlet,  which  at  first  we  took  for  poppies. 
From  where  we  sat  we  could  see  a  group  of  black 
tents  of  the  Bedouins  standing  upon  the  site  where 
Jael  drove  a  tent  peg  into  the  brain  of  Sisera,  when  he 
fled  into  the  mountains  after  the  battle  with  Barak. 
Upon  the  plain  to  the  east  of  us  occurred  the  victory 
of  Gideon  over  “the  Midianites,  the  Amalekites  and 
the  Children  of  the  East,”  who  came  from  the  desert 


MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH  233 


and  encamped  upon  the  cultivated  fields  of  Israel  as 
told  in  the  sixth  chapter  of  Judges.  “For  they  came 
up  with  their  cattle  and  their  tents  and  they  came  as 
grasshoppers  for  multitudes,  for  both  they  and  their 
camels  were  without  number,  and  they  entered  into  the 
land  to  destroy  it,  and  Israel  was  greatly  impoverished 
because  of  the  Midianites,  and  the  children  of  Israel 
cried  unto  the  Lord.”  And  Gideon  made  a  splendid 
fight  and  drove  them  back  into  the  valley. 

Two  more  battles  hardly  less  bloody  and  equally 
important  occurred  upon  the  same  field  in  Biblical 
times,  one  of  them  fatal  to  the  kingdom  of  Israel  and 
the  other  to  the  kingdom  of  Judea.  It  was  in  the  last 
days  of  the  Jewish  monarchy  that  Palestine  became  the 
contested  ground  between  the  Pharaohs  of  Egypt  and 
the  emperors  of  Babylon.  But  perhaps  the  greatest 
fight,  the  most  bloody  and  disastrous  of  all,  speaking 
from  the  standpoint  of  Christianity,  was  that  which 
took  place  in  the  Middle  Ages  between  the  Crusaders 
and  Saladin.  It  was  the  last  struggle  of  the  Christian 
invaders,  and  they  staked  everything  in  the  presence 
of  the  holiest  scenes  in  all  history,  those  which  are 
sanctified  more  than  any  other  by  the  ministry  of  our 
Lord.  Then  we  come  down  to  1799,  when  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  having  abandoned  his  monstrous  idea  of 
forming  an  empire  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,  fell 
back  upon  the  first  great  retreat  of  his  career,  followed 
by  the  black  tents  of  the  Bedouins.  He  had  obtained 
temporary  possession  of  the  country  around  Nazareth 
and  had  started  toward  the  seacoast,  when  on  Esdra- 
elon  he  was  overtaken  by  a  Turkish  force  of  over 
25,000  men  and  whipped  them  with  less  than  one-tenth 
of  that  number.  After  the  retirement  of  the  French 
from  Acre  the  Turkish  commander  threatened  to  mas- 


234  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

sacre  all  the  Christians  in  the  country,  but  was  pre¬ 
vented  from  executing  his  bloody  purpose  by  the 
energetic  protests  of  Sir  Sydney  Smith,  the  English 
admiral,  who  had  assisted  in  driving  out  Bonaparte. 

Of  all  the  numerous  villages  upon  the  slopes  of  the 
mountains  that  enclose  this  historic  plain  none  has 
more  tragic  association  than  Zerin,  a  little  hamlet  of 
mud  houses,  which  stands  upon  the  site  of  the  ancient 
City  of  Jezreel,  which  Ahab  chose  for  his  royal  resi¬ 
dence.  His  father’s  capital  at  Samaria  was  not  aban¬ 
doned.  It  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  dynasty  for  several 
reigns,  but  Queen  Jezebel  preferred  another  place  for 
some  reason,  and  there  she  met  her  fate. 

Standing  upon  the  edge  of  the  little  eminence  where 
we  took  our  lunch,  we  could  see  up  the  valley  toward 
Naboth’s  vineyard,  and  looking  down  the  westward 
within  easy  view  are  the  stones  that  were  stained  with 
the  blood  of  Jezebel  when  she  was  trampled  under  the 
hoofs  of  Jehu’s  horses,  and  the  dogs  now  prowl  around 
the  wretched  village  as  they  did  through  the  splendid 
streets  of  Jezreel  on  the  day  that  they  ate  the  body  of 
the  murdered  queen. 

We  were  overtaken  by  a  hailstorm  when  we  were 
crossing  a  low  place  in  the  valley,  and  the  hailstones 
fell  like  bullets  upon  the  top  of  the  carriage.  They 
were  as  large  as  cherries,  but  in  a  moment  the  storm 
was  over  and  the  sun  came  out  as  warm  and  bright  as 
could  be.  We  passed  the  ruins  of  a  Crusader’s  castle, 
the  first  settlement  of  German  Knights  Templar  in 
Palestine,  and,  climbing  a  long  hill,  passed  a  village 
which  is  said  to  have  been  the  home  of  Zebidee  and 
the  birthplace  of  James  and  John,  the  apostles.  It  was 
a  hard  pull  climbing  the  last  divide  that  separates  the 
slopes  of  the  Mediterranean  from  the  valley  of  the 


THE  WELL  OF  NAZARETH. 


MOUNT  CARMEL  TO  NAZARETH  235 

Jordan,  and  we  had  to  get  out  and  walk  to  ease  the 
horses. 

The  Arab  villages  are  more  frequent  as  we  approach 
Nazareth,  for  few  of  the  people  live  on  their  farms. 
The  Arabs  who  occupy  the  ruined  sites  and  cultivate 
the  soil  and  pay  taxes  like  other  citizens  are  held  in 
contempt  by  their  nomadic  brethren  of  the  desert.  The 
true  Bedouin  still  lives  in  a  tent  and  rejects  the  duties 
and  vocations  of  civilization.  He  will  follow  a  herd 
of  cattle  or  horses;  he  will  breed  sheep,  shear  them 
and  sell  the  wool;  he  will  milk  cows  and  goats  and 
make  cheese,  but  he  will  not  till  the  soil  or  do  any 
manual  labor  in  the  way  of  farming.  Nor  will  he 
allow  his  children  to  intermarry  with  the  degenerate 
families  who  have  chosen  to  gain  their  living  by 
honest  industry. 

We  cross  the  ridge  upon  a  splendid  piece  of  road, 
one  of  the  best  we  have  seen  in  Palestine,  and  after 
following  its  curves  around  the  contour  of  the  hills, 
we  come  in  sight  of  a  holy  spot,  the  scene  that  every 
Christian  in  all  the  world  most  desires  to  witness,  the 
place  in  which  Jesus  lived  for  nearly  thirty  years; 
where  He  spent  His  childhood  and  boyhood,  and  grew 
in  strength  and  favor  until  He  acquired  the  wisdom 
and  the  grace  which  changed  the  world.  Nazareth  lies 
upon  the  side  of  a  stony  slope  surrounded  by  fifteen 
hills,  which  have  been  compared  to  a  shell,  to  guard 
it  from  intrusion.  Its  white  houses  are  separated  by 
clumps  of  green  fig  trees,  small  gardens,  hedges  of 
prickly  pear,  and  little  fruit  orchards,  which  grow  with 
wondrous  fertility  from  a  soil  that  looks  almost  barren. 
The  modern  name  of  the  town  is  En-Nasira,  and 
although  not  a  single  artificial  object  within  sight 
existed  during  the  lifetime  of  the  Saviour,  we  know  that 


236  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


every  rock  in  the  mountains,  every  gorge,  every  sunny 
slope  and  every  fertile  field  were  familiar  to  His  eyes. 
The  landscape  is  absolutely  the  same,  even  to  the 
pathways  which  cross  the  goat  pastures  and  divide 
them  like  a  checker  board.  As  a  lad  Jesus  may  Him¬ 
self  have  herded  sheep  and  goats  among  these  very 
hills,  and  His  hands  may  have  plucked  the  wild  flowers 
that  brighten  the  landscape  in  every  direction. 


XII 

The  Early  Home  of  Our  Saviour 


IT 


237 


XII 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR 

It  calls  for  a  faith  sufficient  to  move  mountains  to 
believe  in  all  the  sacred  sites  one  is  shown  at  Nazareth 
and  the  stories  that  are  told  by  the  pious  men  in  charge 
of  them.  They  give  details  that  are  not  only  unneces¬ 
sary,  but  which  none  save  simpletons  or  fanatics  can 
accept.  They  show  you  a  rock  upon  which  the  Virgin 
Mother  used  to  sit  while  she  gossiped  and  discussed 
domestic  affairs  with  her  neighbors;  they  point  out 
the  exact  spot  upon  which  she  was  sitting  when  the 
Angel  of  the  Annunciation  appeared  to  her,  and  the 
paths  in  which  she  used  to  walk  leading  the  child  Jesus 
by  the  hand.  They  take  you  to  the  workshop  in  which 
Jesus  assisted  His  father  with  carpenter’s  tools,  and  a 
friend  insists  that  he  was  shown  an  old  earthen  jar  in 
which  the  Virgin  carried  water  from  the  well,  but  the 
monks  did  not  go  so  far-with  me. 

The  points  of  greatest  interest  in  Nazareth  are  a 
cavern  over  which  Joseph  and  Mary  lived  when  Jesus 
was  a  child;  the  synagogue  in  which  Christ  taught;  a 
stone  upon  which  He  dined  with  His  disciples  both 
before  and  after  the  resurrection;  the  Mount  of  the 
Precipitation,  from  which  the  people  threatened  to 
“cast  Him  down  the  cliff,’’  and  a  spring  at  which  Mary 
received  the  startling  announcement  from  the  angel. 
All  of  these  places  are  problematical  and  located  by 
guesswork,  some  of  them  accurately  perhaps,  but 
nobody  knows,  for  there  is  not  the  slightest  tangible 

239 


240  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


evidence  that  any  of  them  were  consecrated  by  actual 
association  with  the  Redeemer  of  Men. 

There  is  a  great  difference  among  the  monks  who 
have  charge  of  the  holy  places  and  their  stories  some¬ 
times  vary  according  to  the  credulity  of  their  listeners. 
A  young  Frenchman  who  showed  us  around  the  Church 
of  the  Annunciation  was  a  fanatic,  bursting  with  zeal, 
faith  and  piety,  who  evidently  believed  everything  he 
said  and  desired  us  to  believe  it  also,  but  another 
Franciscan  brother,  an  American,  older,  wiser  and 
more  thoughtful,  who  kindly  accompanied  us  through 
the  village,  was  less  positive  and  more  rational  in  his 
explanations.  He  qualified  all  his  statements  and  gave 
us  the  facts  as  near  as  it  was  possible  to  relate  them. 
He  did  not  repudiate  the  claims  of  the  Greek  monks 
to  certain  sacred  sites,  as  the  Franciscans  usually  do, 
but  summed  up  in  an  intelligent  and  judicial  manner 
the  evidence  concerning  them.  When  he  took  us  to 
the  Greek  Church,  which  has  been  erected  over  Mary’s 
well,  which  the  Greeks  declare  was  the  scene  of  the 
annunciation,  he  was  welcomed  with  cordiality  by  the 
Russian  priests,  who  showed  npne  of  the  animosity  that 
had  been  apparent  toward  the  Roman  Catholics  else¬ 
where. 

The  good  brother  told  us  that  there  is  no  testimony 
either  in  the  scriptures  or  in  secular  history  to  estab¬ 
lish  the  authenticity  of  anything  in  Nazareth,  but  the 
fathers  of  the  church,  taking  sacred  and  secular  his¬ 
tory  and  traditions  into  consideration,  have  located 
the  scenes  identified  with  the  early  life  of  the  Saviour 
as  intelligently  and  conscientiously  as  possible.  With 
the  exception  of  the  single  visit  to  Jerusalem  when 
Jesus  was  twelve  years  old  there  is  not  one  authentic 
anecdote  of  His  life  during  all  those  thirty  years  pre- 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  241 


vious  to  His  public  ministry.  Nothing  of  ancient 
Nazareth  remains  that  can  be  identified,  he  said,  and 
it  is  only  a  matter  of  conjecture  that  the  town  stands 
upon  the  site  that  it  occupied  twenty  centuries  ago. 
This  conjecture  is  based  upon  the  fact  that  the  single 
spring  which  furnishes  water  to  the  entire  population 
must  be  the  same  that  served  the  purpose  in  the  days 
of  the  Saviour,  and  the  town  must  have  been  built 
around  it  then  as  now.  The  houses  are  of  mud  and  a 
soft  rock  which  disintegrates  rapidly  in  the  heavy  rains 
that  prevail  at  certain  seasons  in  that  climate.  Walls 
of  this  stone  will  not  last  as  long  as  lumber.  -  And  fur¬ 
thermore,  the  entire  hamlet  has  been  destroyed  and 
forsaken  at  least  three  times  during  the  Christian  era, 
so  that  it  is  practically  certain  that  every  stone  that 
stood  in  the  village  at  the  Saviour’s  day  long  ago  crum¬ 
bled  to  dust  and  was  blown  away  to  enrich  the  soil  of 
the  plain  of  Esdraelon. 

The  Church  of  the  Annunciation,  which  marks  the 
spot  which  the  Roman  Catholics  believe  to  have  been 
the  scene  of  the  interview  between  the  Holy  Virgin  and 
the  angel  Gabriel,  is  built  upon  the  ruins  of  a  very 
ancient  building.  You  are  led  down  a  flight  of  fifteen 
marble  steps  to  a  cave  beneath  the  high  altar.  They 
call  it  the  Chapel  of  the  Angel;  you  then  pass  through 
a  natural  arch  in  the  rock  into  a  second  cave,  encased 
in  marble  and  hung  with  silver  lamps,  which  is  known 
as  the  Chapel  of  the  Annunciation.  A  marble  slab  in 
front  of  the  altar,  worn  concave  by  the  kisses  of  pil¬ 
grims,  is  supposed  to  mark  the  spot  upon  which  the 
angel  stood,  and  near  it  is  a  marble  column  miracu¬ 
lously  suspended  from  the  roof  over  the  place  where 
Mary  sat.  From  this  room  we  were  conducted  up 
several  steps  hewn  in  the  rock  to  a  dark  room  called 


242  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  “Kitchen  of  the  Virgin,”  which  looks  as  if  it  might 
have  been  a  cistern.  If  you  will  read  the  passages  in 
the  gospels  which  relate  the  story  you  will  realize  how 
much  is  taken  for  granted. 

The  actual  house  which  stood  upon  this  spot,  and  in 
which  the  Virgin  lived,  was  carried  bodily  by  angels  to 
a  city  in  Herzegovinia  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  remained 
there  for  several  years  on  a  promontory  overlooking 
the  Adriatic  Sea.  It  was  rescued  a  second  time  from 
invading  Moslems  by  similar  agencies  and  transported 
to  the  village  of  Loretto,  in  Italy,  where  it  now  stands 
beneath  the  sheltering  walls  of  the  magnificent  Church 
of  Our  Lady  of  Loretto,  and  is  visited  annually  by 
thousands  of  pilgrims.  It  shakes  the  faith  of  those 
who  would  like  to  believe  when  they  discover  that  the 
Santa  Casa,  or  holy  house,  is  built  of  stone  entirely 
unlike  any  that  was  ever  seen  in  Nazareth  or  that  sec¬ 
tion  of  Palestine.  It  is  thirty-six  feet  long  by  seven¬ 
teen  feet  wide  and  divided  into  four  rooms.  At  present 
it  is  incased  in  marble  richly  adorned  with  bas-reliefs 
and  other  carvings  illustrating  the  history  of  the 
Virgin.  When  I  asked  the  young  monk  to  explain  the 
extraordinary  circumstances  under  which  this  roughly 
made  stone  house  was  transported  to  Italy  he  did  so 
without  the  slightest  hesitation;  but  the  older  brother 
shrugged  his  shoulders  and  replied,  “We  believe  what 
we  believe.  It  is  not  for  me  to  doubt  the  sacred  tradi¬ 
tions.” 

The  orthodox  Greeks  contend  that  the  annunciation 
occurred  at  a  spring,  where  the  women  of  Nazareth 
were  in  the  habit  of  going  for  water,  and  hence  they 
have  built  a  church  over  the  site,  the  shrine  to  which 
all  the  paths  of  Russian  pilgrims  lead.  The  church  is 
small  and  the  exterior  is  plain,  but  the  interior  is 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  243 

brilliantly  decorated,  the  walls  are  covered  with 
votive  offerings,  ever-burning  lamps  of  silver  and  gold 
hang  from  the  ceiling,  and  service  there  is  almost  per¬ 
petual.  The  spring  itself  is  covered  with  flagstones,  a 
little  hole  being  left,  through  which  the  priest  lifts  the 
water  in  a  ladle  and  gives  it  to  the  pilgrims  to  drink. 
From  this  spot  the  surplus  water  flows  through  an 
aqueduct  to  a  fountain  known  as  Mary’s  Well,  where 
the  women  of  the  town  go  twice  a  day,  as  they  have 
done  for  2,000  years  or  more,  bearing  upon  their 
heads  jars  in  which  they  carry  their  daily  supply  of 
water. 

In  the  olden  times  they  used  earthen  jars  of  artistic 
shape,  which  added  much  to  ,the  picturesqueness  of 
the  scene,  but  of  recent  years  they  have  taken  to  using 
empty  petroleum  cans,  which  are  much  lighter  and 
hold  a  good  deal  more,  but  are  not  at  all  graceful  or 
romantic.  Like  all  the  women  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
carrying  burdens  upon  their  heads,  these  Nazarenes 
have  a  stately  carriage  that  would  become  a  queen. 
The  women  of  the  town  have  a  wide  reputation  for 
beauty,  although  they  might  be  more  fairly  entitled  to 
it  if  they  were  a  little  neater  about  their  persons;  if 
their  garments  were  washed  more  frequently  and  were 
not  so  ragged,  and  their  hair  so  matted  and  unkempt. 
They  have  bright  eyes,  warm  complexions,  regular 
features,  ruddy  lips  and  coquettish  manners.  Their 
turbans  and  scanty  garments  are  of  gay  colors;  brass 
and  silver  bracelets  are  worn  around  their  wrists  and 
ankles,  some  of  them  with  bells  attached,  which  tinkle 
as  they  walk.  They  wear  head-dresses  of  elaborate 
design  and  workmanship,  loaded  with  coins,  which  are 
their  dowry.  A  Nazarene  girl,  instead  of  going  to  a 
savings  bank,  hangs  her  money  to  her  headdress,  which 


244  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


she  wears  on  festive  occasions,  so  that  her  suitors  may 
know  the  amount  of  her  dot. 

Some  of  these  girls  have  shapely  figures  and  seem  to 
be  conscious  of  it,  for  they  like  to  pose  before  kodaks, 
and  never  fail  to  beg  for  baksheesh  as  compensation. 
They  might  be  cleaner,  perhaps,  if  water  were  more 
plentiful,  but  every  drop  that  is  used  for  any  purpose 
in  the  town  has  to  be  carried  from  that  one  fountain. 
Some  of  the  women  are  tattooed  upon  the  cheeks  and 
chin,  and  others  blacken. their  eyelids  and  eyebrows 
and  prolong  the  eye  by  the  application  of  a  pencil,  so 
as  to  make  it  almond  shape.  This  imparts  a  peculiar 
brilliancy  to  the  eye  and  a  languishing,  sensuous 
expression  to  the  countenance.  The  practice  is  very 
ancient.  It  was  in  use  among  the  Israelites  before  the 
return  from  Egypt  and  among  the  early  Egyptians,  as 
we  know  from  the  fact  that  the  powder  and  brushes 
are  almost  invariably  found  in  the  ancient  tombs. 
The  powder,  which  is  called  kohl,  is  made  by  burning 
almond  shells. 

As  this  is  the  only  source  of  water-supply  ancient  or 
modern  Nazareth  has  ever  had,  it  may  be  assumed 
without  a  doubt  that  the  mother  of  our  Lord  came  here 
daily  with  the  other  women  of  the  place  and  often  may 
have  led  the  infant  Jesus  by  the  hand.  Here,  too, 
Christ  may  have  sat  with  the  other  young  men  of  the 
village*  as  is  the  custom  now  after  the  day’s  work  is 
over,  to  exchange  compliments  and  greetings  with  the 
neighbors.  This  custom  is  very  old.  Mary’s  Well 
has  been  the  common  resort  of  the  people  of  Nazareth 
as  long  as  the  town  has  existed.  The  schoolboys  play 
in  the  square  around  it  as  we  have  seen  them  to-day, 
leaving  their  bundles  of  books  upon  a  wall  near  by. 
They  are  bright-looking  boys,  and,  although  they  are 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  245 

Moslems,  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics,  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  them  attend  the  Protestant  schools.  You  are 
disappointed  at  their  lack  of  self-respect  and  manli¬ 
ness,  for,  whenever  they  see  a  stranger  or  a  tourist, 
they  drop  their  playthings  and  come  clambering  for 
baksheesh  like  a  lot  of  beggars. 

The  alleged  workshop  of  Joseph,  for  which  there  is 
not  the  slightest  evidence  of  authenticity,  is  in  the 
Moslem  quarter  of  the  town,  and  the  Roman  Catholics 
have  built  a  chapel  over  it.  They  also  have  a  chapel 
over  a  great  block  of  hard  chalk,  11  y2  by  9^  feet, 
upon  which  Christ  is  said  to  have  dined  with  his  disci¬ 
ples  both  before  and  after  the  crucifixion,  but  the 
chapel  is  modern  and  the  rock  was  unknown  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  there  is  nothing  in  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  or  the  traditions  upon  which  to  justify  a  belief 
that  He  met  and  dined  with  His  disciples  in  Naza¬ 
reth  at  any  time.  The  synagogue  in  which  Christ  is 
said  to  have  taught  may  be  genuine.  Its  exist¬ 
ence  may  be  easily  traced  as  far  back  as  the  fifth 
century. 

There  is  and  always  has  been  an  active  controversy 
about  what  is  called  the  Rock  of  Precipitation.  Both 
the  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics  have  their  own  sites, 
the  latter  being  the  most  probable.  The  New  Testa¬ 
ment  says  that  the  infuriated  inhabitants  of  Nazareth 
cast  Him  out  of  the  city  and  brought  Him  to  “a  brow 
of  the  mountain,”  upon  which  the  city  was  built,  so  as 
to  cast  Him  down  the  cliff,  and  the  site  claimed  by  the 
Roman  Catholics  is  much  more  reasonable,  although 
not  so  picturesque  as  that  of  the  Greeks. 

Nazareth  claims  10,000  population  and  may  have 
that  number  when  its  hospices  are  filled  with  pilgrims 
and  its  hospitals  with  patients,  but  there  has  never 


246  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


been  a  census,  and  the  best  advised  authorities  do  not 
allow  more  than  4,500,  of  whom  about  half  are  Mos¬ 
lems  and  the  remainder  orthodox  Greeks,  Roman 
Catholics  and  Maronites,  with  about  250  Protestants. 
There  are  no  Jews  in  Nazareth.  They  are  not  allowed 
to  live  there.  They  are  permitted  to  come  in  daily  and 
trade,  but  no  Jew  can  rent  a  house  or  store  or  take  up 
a  permanent  residence  for  fear  of  a  public  demonstra¬ 
tion.  They  come  and  go,  however,  like  other  mer¬ 
chants,  buying  and  selling,  minding  their  own  business 
and  making  money  out  of  the  Christians. 

Brother  Lazarus,  our  cordial  American  Franciscan 
monk,  says  that  he  never  personally  knew  of  a  Jew 
being  converted  to  Christianity.  There  may  have 
been  cases  outside  of  his  personal  knowledge,  but  none 
within  his  own  experience.  “God,  in  His  inscrutable 
wisdom,”  he  said,  “has  hardened  the  hearts  of  the 
Jews  against  their  own  salvation.” 

He  says  that  he  has  prayed  for  them  every  day  for 
twenty  years,  and  particularly  for  certain  people  of 
Jewish  birth  who  are  friends,  but  his  prayers  are  not 
answered.  It  may  be,  he  sometimes  thinks,  that  the 
Jewish  race  is  condemned  to  eternal  perdition,  but  the 
Saviour  forgave  them  upon  the  cross  and  asked  His 
Father  to  forgive  them  “because  they  know  not  what 
they  do.” 

Nazareth  could  not  be  a  larger  place  than  it  is.  Its 
position  is  not  favorable  for  trade,  and  the  scarcity  of 
water  is  a  permanent  drawback.  On  one  spring  the 
entire  population,  men  and  beasts,  are  dependent. 
There  is  no  other  water  for  miles  around,  and  there  is 
no  tradition  of  any  other  spring  in  the  neighborhood. 
The  inhabitants  are  still  noted  for  their  turbulent  dis¬ 
position.  They  bear  the  same  evil  reputation  that 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  247 

they  have  always  borne.  It  sticks  to  them  still,  and 
if  a  redeemer  should  emerge  from  that  town  to-day  the 
same  question  would  be  asked:  “Can  any  good  thing 
come  out  of  Nazareth?”  The  word  Nazarene  has 
always  carried  with  it  a  degree  of  disgrace  and  con¬ 
tempt,  and  ever  since  the  time  of  Jesus  has  been  applied 
by  the  Jews  to  Him  and  to  His  followers.  The  Jews 
of  Samaria  and  other  parts  of  Galilee  always  refer  to 
Christians  as  Nazarenes,  and  the  term  is  often  used  by 
the  Jews  of  Jerusalem. 

Nazareth  is  a  place  that  has  no  history.  It  is  not 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  during  the  sub¬ 
sequent  centuries  it  has  remained  hidden  away  in  a 
narrow  valley,  an  obscure  village,  of  no  political 
importance,  the  scene  of  no  events  and  a  place  to  be 
avoided,  because  of  the  evil  reputation  of  its  inhab¬ 
itants.  After  the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Cru¬ 
saders,  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  administered  the  govern¬ 
ment  with  justice  and  ability,  and  his  name  is  still 
cherished.  Prompted  by  reverence  for  the  associa¬ 
tions  of  the  place,  he  endeavored  to  do  something  to 
improve  Nazareth  and  advance  the  condition  of  the 
province.  He  erected  churches  and  monasteries,  both 
in  Nazareth  and  upon  Mount  Tabor,  but  these  favors 
ended  with  his  death,  and  Nazareth  sank  into  obscurity 
again.  During  the  wars  that  have  been  so  fiercely 
waged  in  Galilee  it  has  been  again  and  again  sacked 
and  destroyed,  but  its  destruction  was  not  of  sufficient 
importance  to  be  mentioned  in  history.  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon  was  the  most  admirable  of  all  the  Crusaders, 
not  excepting  Richard  of  the  Lion  Heart.  He  was  no 
mere  swashbuckler,  but  a  man  of  ability,  courage  and 
conscience,  and  although  cruel  deeds  are  charged  to 
his  account  he  never  engaged  in  plunder,  he  never  dis- 


248  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


graced  his  profession  and  treated  his  captives  with 
mercy. 

The  orthodox  Greeks  have  a  bishop  at  Nazareth  and 
a  large  educational  and  ecclesiastical  establishment, 
including  a  church  dedicated  to  the  Angel  Gabriel,  a 
monastery,  a  normal  school  for  the  education  of  native 
teachers,  schools  for  both  boys  and  girls  and  a  hospice 
and  hospital  for  their  pilgrims.  The  Roman  Catholics 
have  a  Franciscan  monastery  with  a  church  and  school, 
a  large  hospice,  a  school  for  Moslem  boys  exclusively, 
an  orphanage,  a  hospital,  a  school  kept  by  a  religious 
order  of  rich  devotees  known  as  the  Dames  de  Naza¬ 
reth,  a  nunnery  of  the  Clarisses,  a  nunnery  and  orphan¬ 
age  of  the  Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,  and  a  home  for  women 
members  of  different  religious  orders  who  come  to 
Nazareth  on  pilgrimages.  The  Franciscans  have  forty 
monks  in  their  monastery  and  sixty  sisters  in  their 
convent.  Seven  young  men,  novices  from  the  new 
Franciscan  monastery  at  Washington,  arrived  a  few  days 
before  me  to  spend  a  year  in  that  sacred  atmosphere. 
The  monks  would  not  let  me  see  them  because  they 
were  in  retreat.  The  Protestants  of  Scotland  have  a 
medical  mission,  a  church  and  a  school.  The  English 
Female  Educational  Society  has  a  handsome  institu¬ 
tion  for  the  education  of  orphans  and  the  British  Bible 
Society  has  a  large  depot  for  the  distribution  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures. 

There  is  a  rather  anomalous  situation  here,  but  the 
same  may  also  be  found  in  other  parts  of  this  country. 
Foreign  Protestants  are  maintaining  schools,  hospitals 
and  other  charitable  institutions  for  the  education  and 
relief  of  the  children  and  the  poor  of  the  orthodox 
Greek  church,  which  has  even  more  extensive  institu¬ 
tions  of  its  own  in  the  same  towns,  and  is  by  far  the 


i 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  249 


richest  corporation  in  Palestine.  It  owns  immense  tracts 
of  land  and  many  valuable  buildings,  and  makes  large 
sums  of  money  entertaining  pilgrims.  There  is  scarcely 
a  member  of  the  orthodox  Greek  church  in  Nazareth 
who  does  not  in  some  manner  or  another  derive  the 
greater  part  of  his  revenue  from  pilgrims  and  tourists, 
and  yet  they  do  not  hesitate  to  let  the  English  and 
American  missionaries  take  care  of  their  poor  and  pay 
for  the  education  of  their  children.  This  is  explained 
by  several  reasons,  the  most  important  of  which  is  that 
the  Protestant  schools  and  charitable  institutions  are 
the  best,  while  those  of  the  Greeks  are  the  poorest  and 
most  unattractive.  Therefore  a  Greek  will  allow  the 
Protestants  to  pay  for  the  education  of  his  own  children 
while  he  pays  for  the  education  of  Moslem  children  in 
schools  maintained  by  his  own  church.  The  natural 
result  is  that  most  of  the  pupils  in  the  Protestant 
schools  and  most  of  the  converts  to  Protestantism  are 
from  the  orthodox  Greek  families. 

From  the  crest  of  the  hill  back  of  Nazareth  is  one 
of  the  most  striking  and  beautiful  views  in  Palestine. 
Mount  Tabor  uplifts  a  rounded  dome  toward  the  south¬ 
east;  the  snow-clad  summit  of  Mount  Hermon  is  dis¬ 
tinctly  visible  in  the  distant  north,  while  Carmel  lies 
to  the  westward  like  a  sleeping  monster,  with  its  nose 
in  the  Mediterranean.  These  are  three  of  the  most 
famous  mountains  in  the  world.  On  the  west,  inclosed 
by  a  group  of  lower  hills,  lies  the  town  of  Sepphorieh, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  residence  of  Joa¬ 
chim  and  Anna,  the  parents  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  of 
Zacharias  and  his  wife,  Elizabeth,  the  parents  of  John 
the  Baptist,  to  whom  Mary  made  a  visit  after  the 
annunciation.  This,  however,  like  most  of  the  stories 
you  hear,  is  mere  tradition. 


250  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

The  Mount  of  the  Beatitudes,  supposed  to  have  been 
the  scene  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  is  in  the  same 
direction,  being  one  of  the  foothills  of  the  Karn 
Hattin,  a  rocky  peak  nearly  1,200  feet  high.  Its  situ¬ 
ation  and  surroundings  so  strikingly  coincide  with  the 
gospel  narrative  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  and  the 
place  where  the  five  thousand  were  fed  with  loaves  and 
fishes  as  to  absolutely  disarm  criticism,  although  of 
course  the  evidence  in  its  favor  would  not  stand  for  a 
moment  under  the  rules  of  a  court.  It  is  the  only 
place  in  the  neighborhood  that  could  have  been  used 
for  such  a  purpose.  The  plain  on  which  it  stands  is 
easily  accessible.  Its  situation  is  central  both  to  the 
peasants  of  the  hills  and  to  the  fishermen  of  the  lake, 
between  which  it  stands,  and  it  would  be  a  natural 
resort  for  Jesus  and  His  disciples  from  any  one  of  the 
many  towns  and  villages  around  it,  for  consultation  or 
reflection,  while  there  is  a  natural  platform  and 
amphitheater  which  corresponds  precisely  to  the 
“level  place”  referred  to  by  the  evangelists.  It  is  a 
singular  coincidence  that  both  the  Greeks  and  Roman 
Catholics  agree  upon  it  without  question. 

By  some  freak  of  the  fates  the  Mount  of  the  Beati¬ 
tudes,  the  spot  upon  which  Christ  preached  words 
of  peace  and  love  and  charity  that  will  live  longer 
than  any  others  ever  uttered  by  man,  was  the  scene  of 
one  of  the  bloodiest  battles  of  the  Crusades  on  the  3d 
and  4th  of  July,  1187.  Saladin,  the  brilliant  leader  of 
the  Saracens,  dealt  a  death  blow  to  the  power  of  the 
Franks  in  Palestine.  Guy  de  Lusignan,  King  of  Jeru¬ 
salem,  was  taken  prisoner  with  many  Knights  Templar 
and  Hospitallers,  who  were  sold  to  the  Bedouins  for 
slaves.  The  grand  master  of  the  Knights  Templar 
was  executed  by  Saladin’ s  own  hands.  Because  he 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  251 


had  so  frequently  broken  faith  the  Saracen  chieftain 
pronounced  him  unfit  to  live.  From  that  day  and  from 
this  place  the  decay  of  the  Crusaders  began,  and  it  is 
no  wonder,  for  anybody  who  reads  the  history  of  that 
extraordinary  movement  must  boil  with  indignation  at 
the  crimes  and  cruelties  that  were  perpetrated  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  The  motives  of  the  Crusaders  may 
have  been  pure  and  pious,  but  their  methods  were  those 
of  Satan.  At  the  storming  of  Jerusalem  they  slaugh¬ 
tered  70,000  Moslems,  regardless  of  age  or  sex.  They 
burned  thousands  of  Jews  alive  in  synagogues  and 
threw  Jewish  infants  over  the  walls  of  the  city  upon 
the  rocks  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat.  After  they 
had  washed  the  blood  from  their  hands,  they  knelt  at 
the  grave  of  Christ  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul¬ 
cher  and  returned  thanks  to  the  Prince  of  Peace  for 
the  victory  they  had  won  in  His  name.  At  Acre  the 
feast  of  the  assumption  of  the  blessed  Virgin  was  cele¬ 
brated  by  hanging  2,700  hostages,  innocent  people 
who  had  been  detained  temporarily  until  their  ransom 
could  be  paid,  and,  when  an  explanation  was  demanded 
by  the  heathen,  the  leaders  of  the  Crusade  declared 
that  the  act  was  “to  vindicate  the  Christian  religion 
and  to  retaliate,  with  the  assent  of  divine  grace,  upon 
those  who  had  destroyed  so  many  Christians  in  battle 
with  missiles  from  bows  and  arbalests.” 

Jesus  as  a  boy  no  doubt  often  played  upon  the  slopes 
of  the  hill  from  which  He  afterward  delivered  His 
famous  sermon  and  among  its  beautiful  surroundings 
studied  the  problems  of  life.  From  the  summit  of  the 
hill  back  of  Nazareth,  which  He  no  doubt  often 
ascended,  can  be  seen  the  great  highway  between 
Damascus  and  Egypt,  over  which  have  passed  proces¬ 
sions  of  pilgrims,  caravans  of  trade  and  chariots  of 


252  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

war  for  forty  centuries.  It  was  used  in  Christ’s  time 
as  it  is  used  now.  During  the  long  evenings  of  sum¬ 
mer  it  is  customary  for  the  people  of  Nazareth  to  stroll 
up  its  slopes  to  breathe  a  cooler  and  fresher  atmos¬ 
phere  than  that  of  the  hollow  in  which  the  village  lies. 

The  streets  of  Nazareth  are  narrow  and  dirty,  but 
not  so  dirty  as  those  of  Jerusalem  or  Tiberius.  There 
are  no  sewers  or  garbage  collectors,  hence  everything 
has  to  be  thrown  into  the  streets  in  the  Moslem  quar¬ 
ter,  but  the  new  section  of  the  town,  among  the  monas¬ 
teries  and  hospices,  is  well  kept.  The  city  has  been 
razed  to  the  ground  and  entirely  obliterated  several 
times  during  the  last  1,900  years.  Nothing  that  now 
stands  is  older  than  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
during  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  considerable 
improvement.  Nazareth  is  now  a  much  larger  and 
more  important  place  than  it  ever  was  before,  and  is 
probably  more  prosperous  than  at  any  previous  time  in 
its  history,  because  of  the  large  sums  of  money 
expended  by  the  religious  brotherhoods  in  building 
monasteries,  hospices,  hospitals  and  entertaining  pil¬ 
grims  and  tourists.  A  new  hospice  now  being  erected 
by  the  Russian  government  alone  represents  an  expend¬ 
iture  of  $150,000,  and  the  Greek  church  has  expended 
several  hundred  thousands  of  dollars  there  during  the 
last  few  years.  Most  of  the  pilgrims  who  come  there 
are  Russians.  They  number  between  50,000  and  60,000 
annually.  They  are  taken  care  of  in  great  hospices  in 
charge  of  the  monks  of  the  Greek  church.  There  are 
different  grades  of  accommodation.  The  poor  are 
allowed  to  sleep  on  the  floor  without  bedding  or 
blankets  free  of  charge  and  are  given  a  bowl  of  thick 
soup  twice  a  day.  Those  who  are  a  little  better  off  are 
furnished  bunks  in  large  rooms  similar  to  the  emigrant 


AT  THE  HOME  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR  253 

quarters  of  a  steamship,  while  the  richer  ones  are 
allowed  rooms  quite  as  good  as  can  be  obtained  at  a 
hotel.  There  is  a  hospital  at  which  Russian  pilgrims 
who  become  ill  are  cared  for  free  of  cost,  and, 
strangely  enough,  many  come  there  in  the  last  stages 
of  illness.  They  beg  money  from  their  friends  and 
relatives  to  pay  the  expense -of  the  journey  in  order 
that  they  may  die  and  be  buried  in  that  holy  place. 
That  accounts  for  the  large  cemeteries  that  surround 
Nazareth,  which  are  sufficient  for  a  city  ten  times  its 
size- 

The  Roman  Catholic  pilgrims  are  taken  care  of  by 
the  Franciscan  monks  and  other  brotherhoods,  who 
have  large  buildings  similar  to  those  I  have  described. 
Everything  is  for  the  pilgrims.  To  house,  feed  and 
provide  for  them  is  the  work  of  the  entire  population. 
The  French  hospice  is  larger  and  more  attractive  than 
the  Russian.  It  was  erected  with  a  subsidy  granted 
by  the  government  of  France  for  the  accommodation 
of  Roman  Catholic  pilgrims  from  that  country.  There 
are  several  religious  houses  under  the  care  of  the 
Roman  Catholics  with  hospitals,  schools  and  other 
institutions.  Altogether  about  3,000  strangers  can  be 
comfortably  taken  care  of  in  Nazareth  to-day.  Ordinary 
travelers  find  a  very  good  hotel,  plain  and  unpreten¬ 
tious,  but  well  kept  by  a  German  landlord. 


XIII 

Around  the  Sea  of  Galilee 


255 


XIII 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE 

The  descent  from  Nazareth  to  the  Sea  of  Galilee  is 
very  rapid.  That  village  lies  at  an  altitude  of  about 
l,ioo  feet  above  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  hills 
around  it  are  from  2,000  to  4,000  feet  high,  while  the 
sacred  lake  is  680  feet  below  tide  water.  Few  people 
realize  that  the  greater  part  of  our  Lord’s  ministry  was 
performed  in  a  torrid  trench  washed  out  by  the  River 
Jordan  at  some  remote  period  of  geological  history. 
It  is  a  curious  formation  of  nature. 

As  the  carriage  descended  along  the  rough  road, 
which  in  wet  weather  is  almost  impassable,  we  passed 
from  spring  to  summer.  Travelers  who  visit  the  Sea 
of  Galilee  later  than  April  must  expect  oppressive 
heat,  and  the  contrast  between  the  heavy  and  humid 
atmosphere  of  the  lake  basin  and  the  pure  and  exhila¬ 
rating  ozone  of  the  hill  country  around  Nazareth  is 
keenly  felt  by  people  who  are  sensitive  to  climatic 
changes.  The  vegetation  becomes  tropical  as  you 
approach  the  water.  Trees  which  are  never  seen  on 
the  hills  grow  in  thick  jungles  and  groups  of  palms 
decorate  the  scene  in  every  direction.  The  lake  has 
the  shape  of  a  heart,  thirteen  miles  long  and  eight 
miles  wide.  A  Jewish  rabbi  once  said:  “Jehovah  hath 
created  many  lakes,  but  the  Sea  of  Gennersaret  is  his 
delight.’’  It  resembles  the  lochs  of  Scotland,  and  its 
resemblance  to  the  lakes  of  northern  Italy  is  often 
pointed  out,  although  the  foliage  is  more  scanty  and 
by  no  means  so  beautiful,  and  the  villas  and  towns 
around  them  cannot  be  compared  for  a  moment. 

257 


258  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  lake  is  encircled  by  a  white  strip  of  beach.  At 
the  northern  end  it  is  formed  of  smooth  white  sand, 
shells  and  pebbles,  and  the  southern  end  of  gravel  and 
black  and  white  boulders.  Evidences  of  volcanic 
agencies  appear  frequently,  and  on  the  southern  banks 
are  the  famous  hot  baths  of  Herod,  who  utilized  a 
group  of  sulphurous  springs  and  built  and  fitted  up  in 
great  luxury,  in  imitation  of  the  Romans,  a  collection 
of  bath  houses  that  have  never  been  surpassed  in  the 
East.  The  water  of  the  springs  has  a  bitter  and  nause¬ 
ous  taste,  and  smells  like  antiquated  eggs,  but  amid 
all  the  wrecks  of  fortune  with  which  the  locality  is 
strewn  they  still  minister  to  the  ills  of  humanity  with 
great  relief.  Rheumatism,  gout  and  other  diseases  can 
be  cured  by  using  them,  and  invalids  come  there  from 
all  parts  of  Syria.  The  springs  were  famous  through¬ 
out  the  ancient  world,  but  the  present  accommodations 
cannot  be  recommended.  The  bath  houses  are  dirty 
and  inconvenient,  and  the  surroundings  are  repulsive. 
There  is  a  Protestant  hospital  and  a  missionary  medical 
station  near  by,  both  of  which  are  supported  by  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  furnish  neat  but  limited 
quarters. 

The  baths  were  called  Hammath  in  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment,  and  are  known  as  Hammon  now.  The  springs 
are  four  in  number.  The  water  has  a  normal  temper¬ 
ature  of  144  degrees  Fahrenheit,  and  its  chief  proper¬ 
ties,  as  shown  by  analysis,  are  carbonate  of  lime, 
muriatic  salts  and  chloride  of  magnesium.  There  is  a 
cave  in  the  hill  upon  which  an  old  castle  stands,  which 
is  supposed  to  be  connected  by  subterranean  passages 
with  the  springs,  for  it  has  a  high  temperature  and  is 
continually  filled  with  steam.  Persons  afflicted  with 
gout  or  rheumatism  receive  almost  immediate  relief  by 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  259 


sitting  in  this  cave  and  submitting  to  the  continuous 
and  profuse  perspiration  which  its  high  temperature 
excites. 

Down  in  this  pit,  in  the  days  of  the  Crusaders,  the 
ambition  of  Christendom  was  scorched  to  the  heart. 
Tempted  by  treachery,  the  Knights  of  the  Cross 
attacked  Saladin.  The  dust  and  heat  were  intense,  for 
there  had  been  a  long  drought  and  the  earth  was 
parched.  The  Arabs  set  fire  to  the  trees  and  shrubbery. 
The  knights  choked  in  their  armor.  The  foot  soldiers, 
blinded  by  smoke  and  dust,  were  trampled  down  by 
the  Bedouins.  Although  they  fought  sun,  fire,  heat 
and  sword  with  terrible  desperation,  their  defeat  was 
utter.  The  entire  force  was  annihilated,  and  nearly 
every  man  who  escaped  death  was  captured  and  taken 
into  the  desert  as  a  slave. 

Above  the  beach,  around  the  lake,  is  a  succession  of 
grassy  slopes  and  rocky  cliffs  with  groups  of  oleanders, 
whose  blossoms  are  more  brilliant  than  can  be  found 
elsewhere.  At  the  head  of  the  lake  the  entrance  to 
the  River  Jordan  is  marked  by  a  rich  green  plain.  The 
river  comes  down  through  rocky  gorges  with  a  succes¬ 
sion  of  foaming  rapids,  passes  through  a  jungle  of  lux¬ 
uriant  oleanders  and  then  bursts  into  the  clear  waters 
of  Galilee.  A  group  of  five  palms  and  a  clump  of 
thorn  trees  mark  its  mouth.  On  the  south,  where  the 
Jordan  leaves  the  lake,  it  enters  a  muddy  plain  and 
silently  cuts  its  way  through  the  banks,  gathering  clay 
and  other  earth  in  solution  until  it  becomes  very 
turbid.  Upon  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake  the  desert 
sands  come  almost  to  the  water.  Vegetation  and  fer¬ 
tility  is  found  almost  exclusively  upon  the  western 
side,  and  it  has  always  been  so.  It  is  believed  that 
the  soil  of  the  eastern  shores  is  just  as  rich  and  might 


260  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


be  as  easily  irrigated,  but  through  all  the  centuries, 
and  until  recently,  it  has  been  exposed  to  the  forays 
of  the  Bedouins,  who  do  not  hesitate  to  harvest  other 
men’s  fields.  At  present  there  are  no  farms  and  few 
houses  and  the  only  lights  to  be  seen  are  the  camp  fires 
of  the  Bedouins. 

The  most  sacred  section  of  the  lake,  and  to  one  of 
religious  sentiment  a  region  invested  with  unparalleled 
interest,  is  the  northwestern  shore,  where  our  Lord 
dwelt  with  men,  where  He  preached  from  a  ship, 
walked  on  the  waves,  slept  in  the  storm,  rebuked  the 
winds,  calmed  the  sea,  performed  the  miracles  of  the 
fishes,  cast  out  devils,  and  preached  the  gospel  of  love 
and  peace  for  three  years.  These  shores,  however,  are 
desolate  now.  Of  all  the  numerous  cities  and  towns 
in  what  must  have  been  in  His  day  the  most  thickly 
peopled  district  of  Palestine,  but  one  town — Tiberius — 
remains,  and  a  collection  of  a  few  hovels  called  Mejdel, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  ancient  Magdala, 
the  home  of  Mary  the  Magdalene.  Josephus,  who 
governed  this  province  thirty-four  years  after  the  cruci¬ 
fixion,  tells  us  that  there  were  nine  cities  on  the  lake 
in  his  time,  but  they  have  all  disappeared  and  few  of 
their  sites  can  be  identified.  In  some  part  of  this  des¬ 
olated  region  the  home  of  Christ  was  situated,  but 
there  is  nothing  to  enable  us  to  establish  its  location 
with  confidence.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  curse  He 
pronounced  upon  Capernaum  had  been  literally  ful¬ 
filled,  and  as  if  “it  had  been  more  tolerable  for  the 
land  of  Sodom  in  the  day  of  judgment  than  for  Caper¬ 
naum.  ** 

There  has  been  more  discussion  upon  this  than  over 
the  site  of  any  other  of  the  sacred  places,  and  the  Pal¬ 
estine  Exploration  Society  has  shown  a  good  deal  of 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  261 


interest  and  zeal  in  making  excavations  to  determine 
the  question.  The  only  tangible  evidence  one  way  or 
the  other  is  furnished  by  the  alleged  ruin  of  a  syna¬ 
gogue  which  was  built  at  Capernaum  by  a  Roman 
centurion,  evidently  of  great  riches,  high  rank  and 
liberal  mind.  He  was  the  commander  of  the  Roman 
garrison  and  built  a  splendid  temple  for  the  Jews  upon 
the  hill  top.  This  good  man,  as  we  know,  had  a  servant 
whom  he  loved,  and  that  servant,  being  at  the  point  of 
death,  the  elders  of  the  town  besought  Jesus  to  heal 
him.  Jesus  went  with  them  toward  the  centurion’s 
house,  and  in  the  street  met  friends  coming  to  meet 
him,  with  a  request  from  that  gentleman  that  the  Lord 
should  not  come  into  the  sickroom,  but  should  speak 
the  word  and  his  servant  would  be  healed.  Turning  to 
his  disciples,  Jesus  said:  “I  have  not  found  so  great 
faith,  no,  not  in  Israel.” 

At  Tell  Hum,  a  hamlet  of  Shepherd’s  huts,  half 
buried  among  the  underbrush,  are  the  ruins  of  what 
was  once  an  elaborate  building,  ninety  feet  long.  The 
walls  were  of  fine  white  marble  and  it  was  adorned  by 
a  Greek  portico,  a  colonnade,  a  noble  cornice  and 
finely  wrought  Corinthian  pillars.  The  shapeless  heap 
of  ruins  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  synagogue 
built  by  the  Roman  centurion,  and  if  so  they  mark  one 
of  the  most  sacred  places  on  earth,  for  in  that  building 
Jesus  delivered  the  discourse  reported  in  the  sixth 
chapter  of  the  gospel  of  St.  John,  when  his  text  was,  “I 
am  the  Bread  of  Life.” 

It  is  quite  remarkable  that  both  the  great  churches  of 
the  East,  which  have  fought  so  fiercely  for  the  posses¬ 
sion  of  other  sacred  sites  in  Palestine,  should  have 
entirely  ignored  this  place,  one  of  the  most  memorable 
of  all  those  associated  with  the  Saviour.  For  here  He 


262  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


not  only  healed  the  centurion’s  servant,  but  raised  the 
daughter  of  Jairus  from  the  dead.  He  lived  in  Caper¬ 
naum  almost  continually  after  His  baptism  by  John. 
There  He  healed  the  mother-in-law  of  Peter  and  the 
man  sick  of  palsy,  restored  the  withered  hand,  spoke 
the  most  striking  of  His  parables  and  delivered  the 
most  eloquent  of  His  discourses. 

From  this  neighborhood  also  He  called  together 
twelve  men  whom  He  had  chosen  to  preach  the  gospel 
and  establish  His  kingdom  upon  the  earth.  Several 
of  them  were  fishermen  and  made  their  living  with  nets 
in  the  Sea  of  Galilee.  The  pickled  fish  of  this  lake 
were  once  shipped  to  Rome,  Greece,  Spain  and  all  the 
great  markets  of  the  world,  and  long  caravans  of 
camels  loaded  with  them  were  driven  to  Jerusalem  at 
the  yearly  feasts,  to  feed  the  multitude.  Fishing  was 
the  occupation  of  thousands  in  those  days  and  was 
very  profitable,  but  very  little  is  done  nowadays. 
The  only  two  boats  upon  the  lake  are  for  tourists, 
belong  to  Germans,  and  fish  is  seldom  served  at  the 
Tiberius  Hotel.  This  is  attributed  to  the  character 
and  habits  of  the  Arabs,  who  make  up  the  greater 
part  of  the  present  population.  They  do  not  like  the 
water  and  will  seldom  trust  themselves  upon  its  treach¬ 
erous  surface.  If  the  lake  was  covered  with  boats, 
people  say,  they  would  prefer  to  travel  all  around  its 
shores  upon  the  slow-paced  camel.  As  there  is  no 
demand  for  boats,  the  very  art  of  building  them  is  lost. 
I  was  told  that  there  is  not  a  carpenter  upon  the  whole 
coast  who  has  either  the  tools  or  the  materials  or  the 
experience  to  construct  one.  The  two  boats  now  used 
by  tourists  are  said  to  have  been  brought  over  from 
Haifa  by  wagon.  Occasionally  some  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  lake  region  fish,  but  they  have  no  taste  for  it. 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  263 


Placid  as  the  surface  of  the  lake  seems,  furious 
squalls  are  frequent.  This  phenomenon  seems  all  the 
more  remarkable  because  it  is  surrounded  by  high  hills, 
and  the  pit  in  which  it  lies  is  nearly  900  feet  below  the 
sea.  But  these  are  said  to  be  the  very  causes  of  sud¬ 
den  and  violent  tempests.  Meteorologists  explain 
that  the  hot,  moist  air  from  the  surface  of  the  lake 
rises  toward  the  sky  and  that  whenever  the  wind  blows 
from  certain  directions  the  ravines  through  the  moun¬ 
tains  which  converge  upon  the  lake  act  like  funnels 
and  suck  down  the  cold  air  which  causes  the  atmos¬ 
pheric  commotions.  Such  tempests  are  not  only 
violent,  but  often  come  suddenly  with  a  change  in  the 
wind,  and  when  the  sky  is  perfectly  clear.  These 
phenomena  occurred  in  the  time  of  the  Saviour.  You 
will  remember  when  Jesus  was  sleeping  on  a  pillow  in 
the  hinder  part  of  the  ship.  His  disciples  aroused 
Him  with  a  cry:  “Master,  carest  Thou  not  that  we 
perish?”  and  He  arose  and  rebuked  the  wind,  and  said 
unto  the  sea,  “Peace,  be  still.” 

Galilee  is  the  garden  of  Palestine  and  has  the  most 
prosperous  looking  farms  and  the  most  contented  and 
comfortable  people.  Even  the  name  has  a  musical 
and  merry  sound.  Everything  grows  there,  from  the 
wheat  of  the  Caspian  Sea  to  the  Egyptian  palm.  When 
the  hills  of  Judea  are  rocky  and  bare,  when  the  meadows 
of  Samaria  are  burnt  brown,  and  the  valleys  of  Sharon 
are  parched  with  drought,  the  lowlands  of  Galilee  are 
bright  with  flowers  and  growing  crops.  Every  hill  in 
Galilee,  every  bit  of  bottom  land,  is  a  wheat  field;  the 
mud  walls  are  covered  with  myrtle  and  the  air  is 
scented  with  the  perfume  of  the  orange  flower  and  the 
syringa.  Galilee  measures  fifty  miles  north  and  south 
and  between  thirty  and  thirty-five  miles  east  and  west. 


264  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


It  consists  of  three  series  of  plateaus  or  zones,  rising 
one  above  another  toward  Lebanon,  and  culminating 
in  the  snowy  peak  of  Hermon.  David  sang  in  the 
Psalms  of  “the  dew  of  Hermon,  that  cometh  down 
from  the  mountains  of  Zion.”  In  summer  hot  har¬ 
vesters  lift  their  perspiring  faces  toward  the  snow  on 
Hermon’s  summit  and  feel  the  cool  breezes  that  they 
call  its  “gift.” 

The  country  has  always  been  famed  for  its  fertility, 
its  rich  pastures  and  luxuriant  orchards  and  vineyards. 
That  part  of  it  west  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  is  the  most 
beautiful  and  in  the  Roman  period  was  densely  peo¬ 
pled.  Galilee  owes  her  superior  fruitfulness  over 
Judea  and  Samaria  to  Mount  Hermon.  There  is  no 
greater  rainfall  here  than  in  those  provinces,  but  the 
melting  snows  upon  Hermon  always  keep  the  irriga¬ 
ting  ditches  filled  and  serve  as  a  permanent  and  unfail¬ 
ing  reservoir  from  which  the  water  is  dispensed  with 
regularity  and  generosity.  For  this  reason  the  fields 
of  Galilee  are  always  green,  while  the  neighboring 
country  is  a  desert  except  in  the  rainy  season,  which 
lasts  only  five  months. 

The  name  Galilee  means  “district  of  the  heathen” 
and  was  originally  applied  only  to  the  highlands  north 
of  the  lake.  After  the  invasion  of  the  Jews  from 
Egypt  the  territory  was  divided  between  the  tribes  of 
Asher,  Zebulon  and  Isachar,  but  after  the  captivity 
the  population  became  very  mixed,  and  has  since  rep¬ 
resented  every  race  on  earth. 

The  roads  of  Galilee  wind  among  lovely  glades, 
through  groves  of  oak,  and  are  illuminated  by  an 
abundance  of  flowers.  There  is  a  profusion  of  under¬ 
brush  and  immense  cactus  hedges  divide  the  fat  wheat 
fields.  The  arable  land  is  all  under  cultivation  and 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  265 

filled  with  prosperous  villages,  which  are  invariably 
surrounded  by  groves  of  olives  and  figs.  There  is  an 
old  proverb  that  it  is  easier  to  raise  a  legion  of  olive 
trees  in  Galilee  than  a  single  child  in  Judea.  The  high 
plateaus  are  favorable  for  the  cultivation  of  both  olives 
and  mulberries,  and  a  good  deal  of  raw  silk  is  sent  out 
of  the  country,  although  but  little  is  manufactured 
here. 

Judged  by  their  own  standard  the  Galileans  are 
probably  more  prosperous  and  have  more  to  be  thank¬ 
ful  for  than  any  other  subjects  of  the  Grand  Turk,  but 
it  would  be  impossible  to  persuade  an  American  family 
to  live  a  week  under  the  conditions  in  which  these 
happy  people  have  spent  their  lives.  The  mud  huts 
of  Ireland  are  palaces  compared  with  the  hovels  of  the 
Galilean  villages.  They  have  no  windows  or  chim¬ 
neys.  The  opening  cut  for  a  door  furnishes  all  the 
light  for  the  interior,  and  the  smoke  goes  out  of  a 
hole  in  the  roof.  There  is  not  a  dozen  feet  of  lumber 
in  the  entire  building,  except  the  door,  which  more 
often  than  otherwise  is  made  of  slats.  The  furniture 
is  very  scanty  and  most  of  the  family  sit  on  the 
earthen  floor.  The  bed  is  a  mass  of  sheep  skins  with 
the  wool  on,  and  it  is  filled  with  all  sorts  of  insect  life. 
The  cooking  is  usually  done  in  a  camp  kettle  out-of- 
doors,  and  nearly  all  the  food  is  stewed.  In  most 
households  a  single  dish,  a  big  earthen  bowl,  is  con¬ 
sidered  sufficient  table  furniture,  and  around  it  the 
parents,  children  and  any  visiting  friends  gather  and 
help  themselves  with  their  fingers.  And  yet  they  are 
happy,  and  boast  that  their  country  is  “full  of  the 
blessings  of  Jehovah.” 

The  mountain  ranges  show  evidences  of  volcanic 
action,  hot  sulphurous  springs  are  numerous,  and 


266  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


earthquakes  are  occasional.  The  last  serious  earth¬ 
quake,  in  1837,  destroyed  several  towns,  razed  the  walls 
of  Tiberius  and  killed  a  large  number  of  people.  The 
character  of  the  population  is  volcanic  also.  They 
have  always  been  famous  for  their  independent  and 
revolutionary  disposition.  They  have  never  submitted 
to  despotism.  They  have  frequently  revolted  against 
their  rulers,  and  the  national  spirit  is  very  strong. 
They  resemble  the  Italians  in  many  respects.  Private 
feuds  and  quarrels  are  numerous;  murders  are  frequent 
because  of  their  quick  tempers  and  passionate  disposi¬ 
tions,  but  the  Galileans  have  always  been  a  chivalrous 
race.  Their  fidelity  is  often  unreasonable,  but  never 
insincere.  The  Talmud  says  that  the  Galileans  are 
more  anxious  for  honor  than  for  money,  and  to  this 
day  a  Galilean  Jew  will  tell  you  that  he  is  thankful 
that  none  of  his  race  betrayed  Jesus,  the  Christ. 

Their  customs  and  laws,  their  dialect  and  habits,  all 
differ  from  those  of  Judea.  The  Jews  of  Galilee  have 
had  the  reputation  of  being  more  liberal  in  the  observ¬ 
ance  of  the  law  than  the  Judeans,  by  whom,  as  a  con¬ 
sequence,  they  have  ever  been  despised.  While  the 
Judeans  have  been  tenacious  in  holding  to  ancient 
customs  and  traditions,  and  zealous  in  their  desire  to 
preserve  the  laws  and  conditions  of  the  mosaic  era, 
the  Galileans  are  fond  of  innovations  and  defy  con¬ 
ventionalities  and  restraints.  The  Jews  of  Judea  and 
Samaria  are  melancholy,  but  the  Galileans  are  hopeful 
and  joyous.  But  there  is  no  community  of  interests  in 
Galilee,  however,  no  cooperation,  no  unity  of  purpose. 
There  are  few  partnerships  because  the  people  distrust 
each  other,  and  that  is  one  reason  why  the  country  has 
never  really  prospered. 

The  Jews  of  Galilee  lack  the  wealth  and  substance 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  267 


of  those  of  other  parts  of  Palestine.  They  may  be  just 
as  shrewd,  but  they  are  not  as  frugal  or  patient  or 
enterprising. 

About  four  miles  north  of  Nazareth  are  two  wretched 
little  villages  named  Kafr  Kenna  and  Khurbet  Kana, 
both  of  which  claim  to  be  the  Cana  of  Galilee  where 
Jesus  attended  a  wedding  and  turned  the  water  into 
wine.  Both  of  them  are  mud-built  hamlets  of  a  dozen 
cabins,  and  the  people  are  poor,  ragged  and  indolent. 
Either  one  may  have  been  the  place.  There  is  abso¬ 
lutely  no  way  to  determine  the  dispute  between  the 
rivals,  and  consequently  the  Greek  monks  have  one, 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  monks  the  other,  and  both 
sustain  their  pretentions  by  elaborate  arguments.  A 
careful  examination  of  both  sites  by  Biblical  scholars 
reaches  only  one  result,  that  there  is  no  evidence  in 
favor  of  either,  and  yet  the  miracle  occurred  some¬ 
where  in  that  neighborhood,  and  the  little  town  where 
Christ  attended  that  wedding  with  his  mother  has  a 
reputation  which  neither  Nineveh,  nor  Babylon,  nor 
Rome,  nor  Athens  ever  enjoyed.  Whenever  and 
wherever  there  is  a  Christian  marriage  there  the  scene 
at  Cana  of  Galilee  is  always  remembered. 

It  was  at  one  of  these  towns  also  that  Christ  healed 
the  son  of  “a  certain  nobleman,”  but  it  is  evident  that 
no  nobleman  ever  lived  at  Cana  of  Galilee. 

Driving  from  Nazareth  to  Tiberius,  we  passed  around 
the  base  of  Mount  Tabor,  a  majestic  dome  which  rises 
from  the  plain  as  a  conspicuous  landmark.  There  is 
supposed  to  have  taken  place  the  transfiguration  of  the 
Saviour  in  the  presence  of  Peter,  James  and  John,  and 
I  believe  that  the  identity  of  the  mountain  is  not  dis¬ 
puted.  The  summit  is  about  2,000  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea  and  about  1,000  feet  higher  than  the  sur- 


268  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


rounding  plain.  It  is  about  five  miles  by  the  road  from 
the  base  to  the  summit,  and  the  climb  takes  about  an 
hour  and  a  half.  The  mountain  is  composed  of  creta¬ 
ceous  limestone,  as  are  the  hills  west  and  east  of  it, 
and  there  are  frequent  evidences  of  volcanic  disturb¬ 
ance.  Seen  from  the  south  or  north  Tabor  describes 
the  arc  of  a  great  circle;  from  the  east  it  rises  abruptly 
like  a  truncated  cone;  from  the  west  it  appears  wedge- 
shaped  like  a  pyramid,  and  hence  the  photographs 
and  sketches  of  the  mountain  differ  materially,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  point  of  view. 

The  slopes  of  the  holy  mountain  are  embellished 
with  beautiful  groves  of  oaks  and  clumps  of  under¬ 
brush,  and,  although  water  is  scarce,  they  seem  to 
grow  rapidly  without  irrigation. 

Near  the  base  of  the  mountain  by  the  roadside  are 
two  khans  or  corrals,  as  we  would  call  them,  for  the 
accommodation  of  caravans.  Here  camels  and  don¬ 
keys  find  rest,  food  and  water  while  their  owners  or 
drivers  lie  around  on  the  straw  and  make  themselves 
as  comfortable  as  possible.  The  khans  were  originally 
castles,  but  were  abandoned  years  ago.  On  Monday 
of  each  week  a  market  is  held  there  and  attended  by 
farmers  from  every  direction.  Hundreds  of  people 
come  in  to  sell  and  buy  on  those  occasions,  and  form 
a  busy,  picturesque  and  interesting  scene. 

Upon  the  summit  of  Mount  Tabor  are  vast  piles  of 
ruins  belonging  to  several  different  periods,  most  of 
them  being  the  overthrown  walls  of  churches  and  cas¬ 
tles  dating  from  the  Middle  Ages.  There  is  a  tradition 
that  the  Jews  fortified  the  place  during  the  revolution 
of  the  Galileans  that  took  place  in  the  year  67  A.  D., 
and  the  Empress  Helena  is  said  to  have  actually  car¬ 
ried  out  the  vow  of  St.  Peter  that  he  would  build  three 


AROUND  THE  SEA  OF  GALILEE  269 


tabernacles,  “One  for  Thee,  one  for  Moses  and  one 
for  Elias.”  It  is  known  also  that  the  Crusaders 
erected  formidable  fortifications,  which  were  destroyed 
by  the  Saracens  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Both  the 
Greeks  and  the  Roman  Catholics  have  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  both  claim  to  possess  the  actual  spot 
upon  which  the  transfiguration  took  place.  Upon  the 
anniversary  of  that  event  the  priests  and  monks  of 
both  denominations  gather  upon  the  summit  of  Tabor 
and  celebrate  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony.  It  is 
the  ambition  of  many  pious  people  to  be  buried  upon 
Mount  Tabor,  and  for  that  purpose  they  go  there  to 
die,  making  legacies  to  the  monasteries  in  order  to 
secure  the  privilege.  For  that  reason  funerals  are 
frequent,  and  I  was  told  that  there  are  not  fewer  than 
50,000  graves  upon  the  mountain. 


XIV 

Tiberias,  the  City  of  Herod 


271 


XIV 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD 

Herod  Antipas  built  the  city  of  Tiberias  for  his  cap¬ 
ital  when,  after  the  death  of  his  father,  Herod  the 
Great,  he  became  Tetrarch  of  Galilee.  According  to 
Josephus  the  work  was  begun  in  the  year  16  A.  D.  and 
finished  in  seven  years.  His  brother  Philip,  of  whom 
he  was  jealous,  had  built  a  city  and  called  it  Julias,  in 
honor  of  the  favorite  daughter  of  the  Roman  emperor, 
and  Herod  Antipas,  in  hope  of  displacing  him  in 
Caesar’s  favor,  built  one  more  splendid  and  named  it 
after  Tiberias  himself.  He  selected  a  site  at  the  base 
of  a  steep  hill,  around  the  waters  of  a  hot  spring, 
among  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  city  and  the  graves  of  a 
forgotten  race.  The  hill  was  crowned  with  a  pictur¬ 
esque  castle;  the  slopes  were  covered  with  temples, 
palaces  and  other  public  buildings,  the  streets  were 
wide  and  well  paved,  a  port  was  built  and  a  pier 
extended  into  the  waters  of  Galilee;  high  walls  three 
miles  in  length  encircled  the  official  section  of  the  city, 
and  in  the  center  was  a  splendid  structure,  in  imitation 
of  the  palaces  of  Rome,  which  was  called  the  Golden 
House  because  the  sheet  lead  laid  upon  its  roof  was 
gilded.  We  do  not  know  and  we  cannot  judge  how 
this  building  may  have  compared  in  beauty  of  architec¬ 
ture,  in  splendor  and  in  size  with  the  ideals  of  the 
present  day,  but  contemporary  writers  described  its 
magnificence  in  gorgeous  words,  and  its  cost  confirms 
their  statements. 

The  fact  that  a  burial  place  had  been  disturbed  in 
laying  the  foundations  of  the  city  in  violation  of 

273 


274  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  Mosaic  law,  made  it  impossible  for  Jews  to 
live  in  Tiberias  because  contact  with  graves  defiled 
their  persons  for  seven  days.  Herod  was  therefore 
compelled  to  people  the  city  he  had  built  with  adven¬ 
turers  and  immigrants  from  foreign  lands.  He  brought 
mechanics  from  Italy,  artists  from  Greece;  laborers, 
sailors  and  all  sorts  of  men  from  the  islands  of  the  sea, 
from  Egypt  and  Asia  Minor.  He  proclaimed  Tiberias 
a  refuge  for  the  homeless,  the  persecuted  and  the  poor 
of  all  sects  and  nations;  he  offered  an  asylum  to 
escaped  slaves,  and  even  purchased  from  the  Arab 
tribes  of  the  desert  prisoners  of  war  who  were  held  in 
captivity,  to  whom  he  gave  their  freedom  provided 
they  would  settle  in  his  new  capital.  For  many  fam¬ 
ilies  he  built  houses;  to  many  more  he  gave  lands  in 
the  surrounding  country,  and  he  made  it  known 
throughout  the  civilized  world  that  inducements  of 
any  sort  would  be  granted  to  those  who  assisted  him  in 
carrying  out  his  plans.  The  officers  of  state,  the  cap¬ 
tains  of  the  army,  courtiers  of  all  ranks  and  others 
who  aspired  to  Herod’s  favor  built  houses,  and  some 
of  them  erected  temples  and  shrines,  so  that  the  town 
grew  like  a  mushroom  and  soon  covered  the  hillside 
until  the  entire  space  within  the  walls  was  occupied 
with  what  must  have  been  a  superior  class  of  dwellings 
for  those  days.  No  other  city  in  the  East  was  ever 
erected  in  this  manner. 

Herod  Antipas  inherited  the  Grecian  tastes  and 
tendencies  of  his  father,  with  his  power,  and  as  this 
was  well  known,  those  who  sought  his  favor  by  coming 
to  the  city  employed  Greek  architects  and  adopted  the 
Greek  designs,  so  that  Tiberias  resembled  cities  of 
Greece.  There  was  a  forum  in  which  the  people  met, 
transacted  business  and  exchanged  gossip;  a  stadium 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  275 


in  which  the  youth  of  Galilee  engaged  in  Olympic 
games,  a  theater  resembling  those  of  Athens  in  which 
Greek  and  Roman  comedies  and  tragedies  were  pro¬ 
duced;  a  mint,  the  coinage  of  which  is  still  extant  and 
can  be  purchased  at  the  curio-shops  of  Europe  to-day; 
a  vast  barrack  for  the  military  garrison,  which  was 
uniformed  like  a  Roman  legion.  Columns,  arches, 
shrines,  statues  of  Roman  gods  and  emperors  and 
other  public  ornaments  were  erected  similar  to  those 
at  Athens  and  Rome,  and  in  a  few  years,  as  one  might 
naturally  expect  under  these  circumstances,  Tiberias 
became  the  most  famous  of  all  cities,  one  of  the  won¬ 
ders  of  the  earth,  so  that  its  name  was  applied  to  the 
waters  of  the  Lake  of  Gennesaret  and  was  adopted  by 
the  Romans  in  their  official  correspondence.  It  was  a 
city  of  luxury,  pleasure  and  sin,  and  naturally  an 
abomination  to  the  Jews,  although  after  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Jerusalem,  in  spite  of  the  Mosaic  law,  it  became 
the  chief  seat  of  the  Jewish  nation. 

The  Sanhedrim  was  transferred  here  from  Sepphoris 
and  the  school  of  the  Talmud  was  established  within 
its  walls.  It  was  noted  for  its  scholars,  and  is  still  one 
of  the  four  holy  cities  of  the  Jewish  faith.  Safed  is 
the  other  in  the  north,  and  these  two  almost  rivaled  in 
sanctity  Jerusalem  and  Hebron,  the  two  holy  cities  of 
the  south.  The  so-called  Jerusalem  Talmud  came 
into  existence  here,  and  here  was  published  the  ancient 
law  known  as  the  Mishna.  It  was  here  that  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  now  universally  accepted,  was  written. 
St.  Jerome  studied  the  Hebrew  language  here  with  a 
famous  rabbi,  and  some  Jews  believe  that  the  Messiah 
will  rise  from  the  waters  of  the  lake,  will  land  at 
Tiberias,  and  at  Safed  erect  his  throne.  “I  have  cre¬ 
ated  seven  seas,”  saith  the  Lord,  “but  out  of  them  all  I 


276  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

have  chosen  none  but  the  Sea  of  Gennesaret.”  Such 
was  the  remarkable  change  in  the  sentiments  of  the 
Jews  toward  the  capital  of  Antipas  Herod. 

It  is  not  probable  that  Jesus  ever  entered  Tiberias, 
although  He  might  have  done  so  without  having  the 
fact  mentioned  by  the  evangelists.  The  four  gospels 
do  not  pretend  to  be  a  complete  record  of  His  labors 
or  His  life,  but  He  could  not  have  entered  the  city 
without  violating  the  law  of  Moses,  as  I  have  explained, 
and  we  know  that  both  He  and  His  disciples  avoided 
criticism  in  dhat  respect.  He  was  sent  for  twice  by 
Herod,  the  tetrarch,  who,  having  heard  of  the  wonders 
He  had  wrought  in  Galilee — raising  the  dead,  healing 
the  sick,  making  even  the  sea  and  the  wind  to  obey 
Him — was  pricked  by  a  remorseful  conscience  and 
lived  in  terror  lest  John  the  Baptist  might  have  risen 
from  the  dead. 

This  new  prophet  "who  had  so  suddenly  appeared 
from  Nazareth  gave  Herod  more  alarm  perhaps  than 
could  be  excited  by  any  other  cause.  Hence  he  sent 
one  of  his  officers  of  Capernaum  to  find  out  Jesus  and 
invite  Him  to  the  Golden  House.  Jesus,  mindful  of 
the  fate  of  John  the  Baptist,  did  not  go.  His  hour 
had  not  yet  come.  So  He  departed  thence  in  a  ship 
into  a  desert  place  apart,  where  the  multitude  fol¬ 
lowed  Him,  and  with  five  loaves  and  two  small  fishes 
He  fed  five  thousand  men,  besides  women  and  chil¬ 
dren.  When  He  heard  that  Herod’s  messenger  was 
seeking  Him,  He  probably  stepped  into  Peter’s  boat 
and  crossed  to  the  desert  side  of  the  lake,  out  of 
Herod’s  jurisdiction,  where  He  was  safe. 

This  was  not  the  Herod  who  reigned  at  Jerusalem 
when  Christ  was  born  and  murdered  all  the  babes  in 
Bethlehem  because  he  could  not  find  that  one  which 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  277 


lay  in  a  manger  and  invoked  the  angels’  song.  That 
was  Herod  the  Great,  who,  when  he  died,  divided  his 
kingdom  among  three  of  his  sons  and  gave  Galilee  to 
Antipas  Herod,  an  ambitious,  reckless,  unscrupulous 
but  weak  man,  who  was  entirely  controlled  by  his 
niece  Herodias,  his  brother  Philip’s  wife,  whom  he  had 
taken  to  his  palace  in  defiance  of  all  law,  morals, 
decency  and  public  sentiment. 

During  his  father’s  life  Herod  had  married  a 
daughter  of  Aretas,  an  Arab  sheik,  while  Herodias, 
yet  a  child,  had  been  given  as  a  bride  to  her  uncle 
Philip.  She  lived  with  him  as  long  as  old  Herod  was 
on  earth,  and  had  a  daughter  called  Salome.  By 
Herod’s  will,  Philip,  who  was  a  weak  prince,  was  cut 
off  from  the  succession  and  received  neither  a  crown 
nor  the  governorship  of  a  province,  nor  even  a  fortune. 
Left  without  power  or  position,  and  in  poverty,  Hero¬ 
dias,  his  wife,  at  once  began  to  make  love  to  her  other 
uncle,  Antipas,  the  tetrarch  of  Galilee,  who  had 
inherited  the  glory,  the  authority  and  the  wealth  of  his 
father.  She  could  not  marry  him,  being  her  husband’s 
brother,  because  of  the  law.  A  king  might  have  more 
than  one  queen,  but  not  the  wife  of  another  living 
man,  hence  he  could  not  make  Herodias  his  wife  while 
his  brother  was  still  alive.  Yet  he  and  Herodias 
decided  to  take  their  fate  into  their  own  hands  and 
lived  openly  together  in  the  Golden  House. 

The  Arab  princess  who  had  shared  Herod’s  throne 
gathered  up  her  jewels,  summoned  her  slaves  and 
sought  refuge  with  her  father  in  the  desert.  Aretas 
instantly  made  war  on  Herod  to  avenge  this  insult  to 
his  child.  Josephus  says  that  armies  were  raised  on 
both  sides  and  great  preparations  were  made  for  the 
struggle,  but  that  Plerod  sent  a  general  to  command 


278  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


his  forces  instead  of  going  himself.  For  the  lack  of 
competent  leadership  and  because  of  the  treachery  of 
some  of  his  officers  who  sympathized  with  the  Arab 
queen  and  despised  the  weakness  of  their  own  sov¬ 
ereign,  Herod’s  army  was  destroyed  and  he  was  com¬ 
pelled  to  make  humiliating  terms  with  the  Bedouin 
chieftain. 

In  the  meantime  John  the  Baptist  was  the  most 
influential  man  in  all  the  country,  and  Herod,  wishing 
to  enlist  his  influence  and  support  among  the  people, 
sent  for  him  to  come  to  his  castle  at  Macherus,  east 
of  the  Jordan,  from  which  he  was  directing  the  war. 
St.  Matthew  tells  the  story  with  a  graphic  pen  in  the 
fourteenth  chapter  of  his  gospel.  John  the  Baptist 
rebuked  Herod  in  the  plainest  language.  “Herod 
laid  hold  on  John  and  bound  him,  and  put  him  in 
prison  for  Herodias’  sake,  his  brother  Philip’s  wife. 
For  John  said  unto  him,  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to 
have  her  And  when  he  would  have  put  him  to  death 
he  feared  the  multitude,  because  they  counted  him  as  a 
prophet.  But  when  Herod’s  birthday  was  kept  the 
daughter  of  Herodias  (Salome)  danced  before  them 
and  pleased  Herod.  Whereupon  he  promised  with  an 
oath  to  give  her  whatsoever  she  would  ask.  And  she, 
being  before  instructed  of  her  mother,  said,  Give  me 
here  John  the  Baptist’s  head  in  a  charger.  And  the 
king  was  sorry.  Nevertheless  for  his  oath’s  sake  and 
them  which  sat  with  him  at  meat  he  commanded  it  to 
be  given  her.  And  he  sent  and  beheaded  John  in 
the  prison.  And  his  head  was  brought  in  a  charger 
and  given  to  the  damsel  and  she  brought  it  to  her 
mother,  and  his  disciples  came  and  took  up  the  body 
and  buried  it  and  went  and  told  Jesus.’’ 

There  are  few  incidents  mentioned  in  the  Bible  upon 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  279 


which  secular  history  sheds  so  much  light,  and  it  is  the 
universal  testimony  of  secular  writers  that  it  caused 
the  downfall  of  Herod.  The  people  believed  that  the 
destruction  of  his  army  was  ordered  by  God  as  a  just 
punishment  for  the  assassination  of  the  prophet.  It  is 
a  curious  coincidence  that  at  the  very  place  where  John 
the  Baptist  was  beheaded  Christ  took  little  children 
up  in  His  arms  and  put  His  hands  upon  them  and 
blessed  them  and  said,  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  Me  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God.  Macherus  is  on  the  farther  side  of  the 
Jordan,  near  Mount  Nebo,  where  Moses  died,  and 
thus  Moses  and  John,  the  first  and  the  last  of  the 
prophets,  with  thirteen  centuries  between  them,  closed 
their  eyes  upon  the  same  landscape.  ' 

Down  in  Spain  there  is  a  sequel  to  this  story. 
According  to  the  traditions  Salome,  the  daughter  of 
Herodias,  married  a  Roman  general,  who  was  afterward 
transferred  from  Galilee  to  Gaul  and  obtained  much 
notoriety  for  his  cruelty  and  tyranny  over  the  people. 
His  wife  was  equally  detested  and  met  with  a  singular 
but  significant  fate.  While  skating  one  day  upon  the 
river  at  Cereda,  Spain,  she  broke  through  the  ice  and 
sank  out  of  sight.  When  she  rose  to  the  surface  again 
the  current  was  so  strong  that  it  carried  her  down 
stream  with  terrible  force,  and,  striking  the  sharp  edge 
of  the  ice  below  her  chin,  the  head  of  Salome  was 
severed  from  her  body  and  went  skating  along  among 
the  crowd  of  horrified  spectators,  who  shrank  from  it 
as  it  finally  lodged  upon  a  piece  of  rough  ice  exactly 
the  size  and  shape  of  the  charger  upon  which  the  head 
of  John  the  Baptist  was  brought  from  the  prison. 
Those  who  do  not  believe  this  story  may  go  to  Spain 
and  see  the  place  for  themselves. 


280  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


People  who  have  seen  them  all  declare  that  there  is 
no  city  in  the  East  so  dirty  as  Tiberias,  or  so  little  to 
be  desired  as  a  place  of  residence,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  a  man  of  such  rare  taste  as  Herod  Antipas 
selected  it  for  his  capital.  Being  in  a  pocket  950  feet 
below  the  sea,  and  overhung  upon  the  west  by  a  high 
mountain,  which  shuts  off  the  cool  breezes  from  the 
Mediterranean,  very  little  air  reaches  the  city,  and  the 
atmosphere  is  foul  beyond  expression.  In  summer 
when  the  accumulated  filth  is  festering  under  the  sun 
and  the  thermometer  often  hangs  at  100  degrees  for 
weeks  at  a  time  day  and  night,  the  odors,  it  is  said, 
can  be  perceived  upon  the  tops  of  the  hills  that  sur¬ 
round  it. 

The  population  is  said  to  number  4,000,  mostly  Jews 
of  Russian  and  Polish  origin,  many  of  whom  are  sent 
there  to  study  at  the  expense  of  charitable  Hebrew 
societies  in  Europe  and  elsewhere.  Others  have  gone 
there  to  die,  and  are  in  the  last  stages  of  incurable 
diseases,  while  still  more  are  refugees  from  Roumania, 
Polandrand  other  countries,  where  the  race  is  perse¬ 
cuted.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  is  nothing  in 
Tiberias  for  them  to  do,  and  no  opportunity  for  them 
to  gain  a  living,  the  number  of  Jews  is  constantly 
increasing,  and  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  situa¬ 
tion  believe  that  it  will  increase  as  long  as  they  are 
allowed  to  depend  upon  the  Israelite  Alliance  and 
other  benevolent  organizations.  The  Jews  in  Tiberias 
wear  a  distinctive  dress  consisting  of  fur  caps,  even  in 
summer,  and  long  black  gowns  similar  to  those  of  the 
Catholic  priests  of  Europe.  There  are  ten  synagogues, 
and  the  Mosaic  ordinances  are  observed  with  great 
scrupulousness.  The  old-fashioned  Jews  wear  little 
curls  of  hair  in  front  of  their  ears,  which  give  them  a 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  281 


singular  appearance.  The  study  of  the  Talmud  still 
flourishes,  and  some  of  the  rabbis  have  great  reputa¬ 
tions  for  learning. 

There  are  said  to  be  only  two  hundred  Christians  in 
Tiberias,  and  the  term  is  applied  to  all  residents  who 
are  neither  Moslems  nor  Jews.  The  Free  Church  of 
Scotland  maintains  a  mission,  a  hospital  and  a  school, 
and  the  Orthodox  Greeks  have  a  monastery  and  school 
outside  of  the  town  which  was  built  in  1869.  The 
Franciscans  have  a  monastery,  a  school  and  a  church 
on  the  other  side  of  the  town  upon  the  spot  where,  it  is 
claimed,  the  miraculous  draught  of  fishes  took  place. 
The  Jews  have  several  charitable  institutions  and 
schools. 

During  the  spring  tide  of  the  year,  the  vicinity  of 
the  lake  is  a  paradise.  There  is  no  dust,  the  fields 
are  carpeted  with  flowers,  the  crops  are  growing  with 
tropical  rapidity,  the  fruit  trees  are  aflame  with  blos¬ 
soms,  the  air  is  filled  with  fragrance,  and  although  the 
sun  is  very  hot,  the  temperature  is  not  uncomfortable 
in  the  shade  or  after  twilight. 

The  only  place  of  importance  in  Galilee  north  of 
Tiberias,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  town  worth  mentioning 
between  Nazareth  and  Damascus,  is  Safed,  which  is 
also  settled  by  Jews  and  is  a  much  larger  and  more 
agreeable  city  than  Tiberias.  Upon  the  road  to  Safed 
you  pass  the  ruins  of  several  towns  that  are  mentioned 
in  the  Scriptures.  Both  Bethsaida  and  Koraisin,  which 
like  Capernaum,  were  under  the  Saviour’s  curse,  are 
entirely  extinct  and  obliterated.  Even  their  location 
is  a  matter  of  dispute.  About  half  way  to  Safed  is  an 
ancient  khan  called  Jubb  Yusuf,  which,  the  Arabs  say, 
incloses  the  pit  into  which  Joseph  was  thrown  by  his 
brethren,  but  there  is  no  foundation  for  the  tradition. 


282  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  actual  place  is  south  of  Tiberias,  near  the  town  of 
Dothan,  which  has  been  well  authenticated. 

The  bogus  pit  is  in  a  small  court  by  the  side  of  the 
khan,  and  looks  like  an  ordinary  well,  being  three  feet 
in  diameter,  thirty  feet  deep,  and  lined  with  masonry. 
The  water  percolates  through  the  crevices  in  the  rocks 
at  the  bottom  and  the  supply  never  fails.  It  is  pure, 
cool  and  sweet.  This  of  itself  contradicts  the  Scrip¬ 
ture  story,  which  tells  us  distinctly  that  the  pit  into 
which  Joseph  was  cast  was  a  natural  hole  in  the  ground 
and  that  there  was  no  water  in  it. 

There  are  many  strange  traditions  in  that  part  of  the 
country  regarding  Jacob  and  his  family.  Near  the  old 
khan  is  a  bridge  over  the  Jordan  called  Jisr  Benat 
Yakob  (the  bridge  of  Jacob’s  daughters),  and  a  little 
mosque  near  it  upon  the  western  bank  of  the  river  is 
called  the  Mukam  Benat  Yakob  (the  tomb  of  Jacob’s 
daughters).  Beneath  the  mosque  is  a  large  square 
cave,  undoubtedly  artificial,  extending  about  thirty 
feet  into  the  rock,  and  rows  of  recesses  or  shelves  for 
coffins  have  been  cut  in  the  walls.  The  Moslem  tradi¬ 
tions  relate  that  Jacob  lived  in  this  cave  with  his  chil¬ 
dren,  and,  when  he  was  old  and  blind,  they  brought 
him  Joseph’s  coat  and  the  smell  of  it  at  once  restored 
his  sight. 

A  green  curtain  conceals  what  tourists  are  told  are 
the  tombs  of  the  seven  daughters  of  Jacob,  but  no 
Christian  is  allowed  to  enter.  It  is  sacred  ground,  and 
the  Moslem  attendant  would  certainly  kill  any  foreigner 
who  attempted  to  force  his  way  in. 

The  surface  of  the  ground  in  this  vicinity  is  strewn 
with  boulders  as  black  as  coal,  and  the  peasants  call 
them  Jacob’s  tears,  believing  that  they  were  originally 
white,  but  were  turned  black  by  the  tears  which 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  283 

dropped  from  the  eyes  of  the  stricken  father  while  he 
was  weeping  for  Joseph. 

It  is  a  shepherd’s  country  and  abounds  in  sheep. 
The  hills  on  both  sides  of  the  Jordan  are  covered  with 
flocks,  and  at  this  time  of  year  they  find  excellent 
grazing.  As  we  rode  along  through  that  part  of  Pales¬ 
tine  we  often  met  large  flocks  upon  their  way  from 
the  far  interior,  the  ranges  in  the  valley  of  the  Euphra¬ 
tes,  “from  the  other  side  of  Jordan,  from  the  green 
fields  of  Eden,”  which  were  being  driven  for  sale  to  the 
sea  coast.  It  is  customary  for  the  shepherds  of  the 
interior  to  select  a  certain  portion  of  their  flocks  for 
this  purpose  in  the  spring  of  every  year.  In  dress, 
manners,  language  and  customs  the  shepherds  closely 
resemble  those  of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  they 
handle  their  sheep  in  the  same  way,  “putting  a  space 
betwixt  drove  and  drove,”  as  Jacob  did,  and  leading 
the  young  lambs  “softly.”  If  overdriven  the  animals 
are  likely  to  die,  or  at  least  their  flesh  will  be  worth¬ 
less  for  mutton.  The  weary  ones  are  sold  on  the 
wayside  or  are  killed  and  eaten  by  the  shepherds 
themselves.  The  flocks  grow  smaller  as  they  go 
farther  south,  because  at  nearly  every  village  and 
town  and  often  at  the  farming  settlements  a  few  are 
sold. 

Palestine  has  always  been  a  great  place  for  sheep. 
The  Bible  tells  us  that  Job  had  a  flock  of  14,000; 
Solomon  sacrificed  120,000  sheep  at  the  dedication  of 
the  temple;  when  Moses  overcame  Midian  the  spoils 
of  battle  were  500,000  sheep,  72,000  cattle  and  61,000 
asses;  the  King  of  Moab  gave  the  King  of  Israel  as 
tribute  annually  100,000  lambs  and  100,000  rams,  with 
their  wool.  Nor  will  these  figures  seem  excessive 
when  considered  in  connection  with  the  enormous 


284  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


wool  industry  of  Palestine  to-day.  More  than  10,000 
tons  of  wool  are  exported  annually  from  Beirut;  from 
the  neighboring  seaports  it  is  the  principal  export, 
and  from  Jaffa  they  send  about  ^100,000  in  value  each 
year. 

When  the  Children  of  Israel  entered  the  Promised 
Land,  the  tribes  of  Reuben  and  Gad,  which  had  a  large 
multitude  of  cattle,  recognized  the  value  of  these  pas¬ 
tures  and  asked  for  them.  It  was  here  that  Christ  got 
the  ideas  for  His  parables  concerning  the  sheep;  here 
He  first  called  Himself  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  looking 
beyond  the  plains  to  the  vineyards  upon  the  hillsides 
He  called  Himself  the  True  Vine.  The  sweetest 
poetry  of  Jewish  life,  the  loveliest  pictures  that  have 
ever  been  painted  concern  the  pastoral  habits  of  the 
people,  and  any  traveler  who  drives  through  this 
region  will  realize  the  influence  of  shepherd  life  upon 
the  Jewish  imagination.  The  founder  of  the  Jewish 
nation  was  a  shepherd;  the  founder  of  Christianity 
said,  “Feed  my  sheep.’* 

Safed  is  a  large  wool  market  and  a  strictly  modern 
town,  perhaps  the  most  modern  town  in  Palestine,  and 
no  other  has  increased  so  rapidly  in  population.  It  is 
the  market  for  a  large  area  and  the  headquarters  of 
the  Bedouin  sheep  and  wool  trade.  There  are  perhaps 
25,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  about  one  half  are  Mos¬ 
lems  and  the  other  half  Jews,  with  a  few  Protestants 
and  orthodox  Greeks.  The  British  Society  for  the 
Conversion  of  the  Jews  has  a  mission  there,  but  I  can¬ 
not  learn  that  they  have  made  any  converts.  To  the 
Jews  this  town  is  holy,  and  their  modern  prophets  have 
fixed  upon  Safed  as  the  seat  of  the  Messiah  when  He 
comes.  Many  of  the  Safed  Jews  are  Poles  and  Rouman¬ 
ians  and  are  engaged  in  various  forms  of  commerce 


TIBERIAS,  THE  CITY  OF  HEROD  285 


and  industry.  The  Jewish  quarter  of  the  town  is 
unspeakably  dirty,  but  several  of  the  eighteen  syna¬ 
gogues  are  handsome  and  costly  buildings. 

The  Safed  Jews  are  intensely  fanatical  and  have 
violent  discussions  among  themselves  over  little  points 
of  form  and  practice,  similar  to  those  referred  to  in  the 
Scriptures.  They  observe  all  the  particulars  of  the 
Mosaic  law  in  the  strictest  manner.  They  will  not 
work,  or  walk  a  mile,  or  gather  food  or  even  cook  on 
Sunday.  They  limit  their  exercise  to  the  Sabbath  day’s 
journey,  which  is  six  furlongs,  and  some  of  them  will 
not  even  wind  up  their  watches  on  Sunday,  because 
the  act  might  be  considered  labor.  As  many  of  the 
Mosaic  laws  were  written  for  walled  towns  and  as 
Safed  has  no  walls,  the  Jewish  inhabitants  have  pro¬ 
vided  an  imaginary  one,  in  order  to  protect  their  own 
consciences.  They  have  placed  a  series  of  poles  at 
proper  distances  around  the  town  and  strung  them 
with  a  wire,  which  looks  very  much  like  an  ordinary 
telephone  wire,  but  is  actually  a  substitute  for  a  wall. 

Their  fastidiousness  in  regard  to  etiquette  and  cere¬ 
monies  is  amusing,  but  people  who  desire  to  study  the 
ancient  customs  of  the  Jews  find  such  things  very 
important. 

Etiquette  is  considered  of  much  more  importance 
among  the  Orientals,  and  particularly  among  the 
Arabs,  than  with  the  busier  communities  of  the  West. 
The  Bedouins  are  particularly  scrupulous  in  observing 
the  social  laws,  and  a  desert  robber  who  has  lived 
all  his  life  upon  the  sands  of  Arabia  and  has  seldom 
seen  the  inside  of  a  house  is  as  punctilious  and  cere¬ 
monious  as  a  master  of  ceremonies  at  the  court  of  the 
czar.  These  notions  are  inherited  from  very  ancient 
days,  and,  although  not  one  in  a  hundred  of  the 


286  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Bedouins  can  read  and  write,  or  give  the  name  of  any 
country  but  his  own,  all  have  a  profound  knowledge 
of  the  laws  of  precedence  and  politeness.  They  pos¬ 
sess  a  native  dignity,  a  gracefulness  of  manner  and  a 
sense  of  hospitality  which  the  western  nations  with  all 
their  arts,  education  and  refinement  cannot  imitate, 
and,  although  these  very  circumstances  make  an 
interchange  of  courtesy  with  Bedouins  undesirable,  it 
is  nevertheless  an  interesting  subject  of  inquiry  and 
observation.  A  visit  to  a  Bedouin’s  tent  is  always  to 
be  avoided  because  it  involves  so  many  ceremonies 
and  so  much  time  that  it  is  more  likely  to  terminate  in 
enmity  than  otherwise,  especially  if  the  traveler  is  in  a 
hurry,  as  travelers  usually  are. 


XV 

The  Pathway  of  Jesus 
From  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem 


287 


XV 


THE  PATHWAY  OF  JESUS  FROM  NAZARETH  TO 

JERUSALEM, 

From  Nazareth  to  Jerusalem,  by  way  of  Mount 
Tabor,  Nain,  and  Endor,  across  the  foot  of  the  plain  of 
Jezreel,  skirting  the  base  of  Mount  Gilboa,  along  the 
sources  of  the  River  Kishon,  by  Tel-Dothan,  where 
Joseph  was  put  into  the  pit,  thence  via  Samaria, 
Shechem,  Gilgal,  Bethel  and  Shiloh,  the  distance,  as 
the  crow  flies,  is  about  sixty-five  miles.  By  the  camel 
trail,  avoiding  the  steep  grades  and  the  unfordable 
brooks  and  swampy  places,  it  is  eighty  miles.  There 
are  no  roads,  which  seemed  strange  to  us,  for  the  his¬ 
tory  of  Samaria  is  full  of  chariots  and  horsemen.  We 
seldom  read  of  them  in  connection  with  Judea,  which 
is  a  country  of  barren  mountains,  rocky  and  tortuous 
ravines,  but  Samaria  has  long,  level  stretches  and  easy 
grades.  The  reason  is  that  the  present  population  of 
Samaria  needs  no  highway,  for  it  has  no  wheels.  I  do 
not  believe  there  is  a  carriage  in  the  whole  province. 
There  may  be  a  cart  or  two,  hauled  by  oxen,  but  all 
the  transportation  and  travel  is  done  upon  the  back  of 
“the  ship  of  the  desert,”  whose  long,  swinging  stride 
can  cover  the  distance  between  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem 
in  about  thirty-five  hours  if  he  is  kept  in  motion.  It 
would  be  a  very  tedious  journey,  however,  to  one 
unaccustomed  to  camel  riding.  Tourists  make  it  on 
horseback,  sometimes  in  two  days,  but  generally  in 
three,  stopping  over  night  at  Nablus,  at  Bethel  or  at 

289 


2Q0  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


some  other  point  upon  the  journey  and  visiting  the 
various  points  of  interest  on  the  way. 

There  is  nothing  to  stop  for  except  rest  and  ruins, 
for,  with  the  exception  of  Nablus,  which  occupies  the 
site  of  ancient  Shechem,  everything  has  gone  to  dilapi¬ 
dation  and  decay.  There  are  no  hotels,  but  only  khans 
for  the  accommodation  of  camel  trains,  which  a  for¬ 
eigner  could  scarcely  endure  even  with  the  most  liberal 
supply  of  insect  powder  and  antiseptics.  Zoological 
gardens  are  vacuums  compared  with  them.  It  is  not 
possible  for  a  man  accustomed  to  clean  surroundings 
to  sleep  and  eat  in  these  places  or  accept  any  of  the 
accommodations  to  which  an  Arab  is  accustomed.  He 
could  not  eat  the  food,  in  the  first  place,  even  if  he 
were  blind  and  deaf  and  his  olfactory  nerves  were  par¬ 
alyzed.  I  have  traveled  over  a  good  many  primitive 
countries,  in  the  mountains  of  Central  and  South 
America,  on  the  pampas  of  the  Argentine  Republic 
and  in  the  jungles  of  the  tropics,  but  I  have  never 
known  such  filth  and  such  defiance  of  decency  and 
sanitary  law  as  may  be  seen  daily  in  Palestine. 

There  are  several  agencies  which  make  it  their  busi¬ 
ness  to  soften  the  way  for  travelers.  They  will  pro¬ 
vide  at  a  reasonable  expense,  from  $7.50  to  #10  a  day, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  party,  saddle  horses  or 
camels,  tents,  cooks  and  food,  guides  and  interpreters 
and  every  other  necessity  for  the  journey  and  a  good 
many  comforts.  By  long  experience  they  have 
reduced  things  to  a  system,  and  the  traveler  has  noth¬ 
ing  to  do  but  to  pay  his  money  in  advance,  follow 
instructions  and  enjoy  the  journey  as  much  as  he  can. 
It  is  not  a  pleasant  journey.  People  who  go  there 
for  pleasure  will  be  disappointed.  At  the  same  time 
the  hardships  are  no  greater  than  one  has  to  endure 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  291 


while  traveling  in  all  semi-civilized  countries.  The 
food  and  cooking  are  excellent,  the  tents  and  beds  are 
comfortable  and  afford  sufficient  protection  against 
storm  and  cold.  The  saddles  are  easy  and  the  animals 
are  so  accustomed  to  the  road  and  so  melancholy  of 
disposition  that  they  will  take  care  of  themselves  and 
their  riders  at  the  same  time.  The  climate  in  the 
spring  and  fall — from  the  first  of  March  to  the  first 
of  June  and  from  the  first  of  October  to  the  first  of 
December — is  very  agreeable,  neither  too  hot  nor  too 
cold.  The  sun  may  be  a  little  oppressive  in  the  mid¬ 
dle  of  the  day  and  the  nights  may  be  chilly  in  the 
higher  altitudes,  but  it  is  customary  to  stop  for  a 
couple  of  hours’  rest  and  luncheon  at  noon  and  an 
extra  blanket  is  easily  carried. 

Nowhere  else  in  the  world  has  experience  and 
ingenuity  done  so  much  to  make  it  easy  and  agreeable 
for  tourists.  Cook  &  Sons  are  the  pioneers,  and,  hav¬ 
ing  the  largest  capital,  control  the  best  animals,  the 
best  guides  and  the  best  stopping  places.  Their 
equipment  is  first-class,  and  they  are  as  reliable  as  the 
Bank  of  England.  Their  charges  are  a  little  higher 
than  those  of  some  other  agencies,  but  it  always  pays 
to  have  the  best. 

Our  Lord  and  His  disciples  went  over  this  trail  sev¬ 
eral  times  on  their  way  between  Galilee  and  Jerusalem. 
They  traveled  on  foot  or  upon  the  backs  of  donkeys, 
with  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  few  figs  and  olives  in  their 
pouches.  They  slept  in  the  caves  in  the  rocks  and 
drank  the  water  of  the  wells  along  the  way,  which  we 
were  strictly  prohibited  from  drinking  because  it  is  pol¬ 
luted  with  all  kinds  of  microbes  and  other  enemies  of 
the  human  race.  More  tourists  have  acquired  fevers 
by  drinking  out  of  those  holy  wells,  sacred  to  the 


2Q2  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


memory  of  the  patriarchs,  than  from  any  other  cause, 
and  when  you  hear  of  people  having  typhoid  fever 
after  visiting  the  Holy  Land  you  may  know  that  they 
have  violated  the  rules  of  the  road  and  have  neglected 
the  ordinary  precautions  which  every  traveler  should 
observe  in  a  strange  country.  Cook  &  Sons  and  other 
tourist  agencies  provide  plenty  of  bottled  water,  or  a 
traveler  may  take  his  own  supply,  but  the  water  in  the 
Pool  of  Samaria,  Jacob’s  Well  and  other  places  should 
be  avoided  as  if  it  were  arsenic  or  cyanide  of  potas¬ 
sium. 

The  trail  you  follow  is  the  great  caravan  road 
between  Damascus  and  Egypt,  and  was  known  as  the 
Via  Maris — the  way  to  the  sea.  The  Romans  paved 
it  and  took  toll  from  travelers.  St.  Matthew  kept  one 
of  the  toll  gates.  But  in  these  degenerate  days  the 
pavement  has  entirely  disappeared,  and  in  order  to 
avoid  the  mud  holes  the  camels  make  a  new  trail 
nearly  every  spring.  The  scenery  is  not  grand,  but  is 
very  attractive,  the  fields  are  green,  the  olive  groves 
are  lovely  and  the  numerous  villages  are  filled  with 
picturesque  and  dirty  natives.  Dozens  of  dogs  will 
come  out  and  bark  at  you  as  you  pass  by.  Groups  of 
half-naked  urchins  will  scream  all  manner  of  insults 
and  obscene  epithets,  and  maybe  they  will  throw 
stones.  The  women,  who  are  usually  washing  at  the 
wells  or  working  in  the  fields,  or  sitting  by  the  thresh¬ 
old  of  their  cabins,  hunting  for  wild  beasts  in  the  hair 
of  their  children,  will  smile  pleasantly,  and  if  you  draw 
your  kodak  will  follow  you  and  clamor  for  baksheesh. 
The  men  folks  are  dignified,  reserved  and  reticent. 
They  are  generally  on  horseback,  with  curtains  of 
white  flowing  from  the  backs  of  their  turbans,  and 
long  robes  of  reddish  brown  cotton  falling  from  their 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  293 


shoulders  and  covering  the  haunches  of  their  horses. 
At  their  girdles  are  small  arsenals,  revolvers  and 
knives  galore,  and  shotguns  are  generally  swung  over 
the  pommels  of  their  saddles,  for  everybody  goes 
armed,  not  so  much  for  offensive  and  defensive  pur¬ 
poses,  but  because  it  is  the  custom  of  the  country. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  shooting,  however.  The 
Arabs  are  quick  to  take  offense;  they  are  vindictive 
and  violent  in  their  passions,  and  the  lex  talionis ,  the 
law  of  personal  vengeance,  still  prevails.  A  woman 
sat  weeping  at  the  door  of  a  mill  as  we  rode  by  one 
day,  and  supposing  that  she  was  ill  or  had  been  badly 
treated,  we  inquired  the  cause  of  her  distress.  We 
found  that  it  was  only  a  case  of  murder.  Her  husband 
had  been  shot  the  night  before  for  being  too  familiar 
with  somebody  else’s  property.  You  seldom  hear  of 
an  arrest  or  a  police  court.  The  Turkish  government 
exercises  a  general  supervision  over  the  country,  but 
the  Arab  sheiks  are  held  responsible  for  the  behavior 
of  their  tribesmen,  and  administer  law  and  justice 
in  their  own  way.  One  morning  we  saw  a  couple  of 
prisoners  handcuffed  together  and  accompanied  by 
two  mounted  soldiers  passing  along  the  road  to  Haifa. 
They  were  deserters  from  the  army.  If  they  had  been 
ordinary  thieves  or  murderers  they  would  have  been 
punished  by  the  sheik  of  their  tribe  instead  of  by  the 
government. 

There  is  very  little  disorder  in  Palestine,  very  little 
crime,  and  few  of  the  vices  known  to  civilized  coun¬ 
tries.  No  man  ever  gets  drunk  unless  he  is  a  Chris¬ 
tian,  for  the  Mohammedans  abstain  from  wine  and  all 
other  intoxicating  liquors.  They  do  not  steal  from 
each  other,  except  cattle  and  goats,  and  that  is  a 
capital  offense,  punishable  by  death  on  sight.  Ordinary 


294  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

stealing  is  practically  unknown.  There  are  no  locks 
on  the  doors  of  any  of  the  houses  and  the  curtains  of 
the  tents  are  always  loose,  for  several  reasons,  the 
chief  of  which  is  that  the  people  haven't  anything 
worth  stealing.  They  never  have  money  and  carry  on 
their  backs  everything  of  value.  Millions  of  dollars’ 
worth  of  merchandise  is  carried  over  this  trail  by  camel 
caravans  every  year,  however,  yet  nothing  is  ever 
lost. 

The  same  is  true  in  South  America,  where  the  trans¬ 
portation  is  done  by  mules  and  llamas  over  the  moun¬ 
tains.  Cargoes  of  bullion  are  carried  regularly  every 
day,  yet  guards  are  unnecessary  and  burglar-proof 
safes  could  not  be  used.  The  mule  drivers  are  per¬ 
fectly  trustworthy,  and  occasionally  when  some  foreign 
adventurer  organizes  a  raid,  like  one  of  the  train  rob¬ 
beries  in  the  United  States,  they  will  die  in  defense  of 
their  cargoes. 

The  construction  of  the  railways  to  Damascus  and 
Jerusalem  has  diverted  much  of  the  commerce  from 
this  old  road,  but  formerly  all  of  the  products  of  India 
and  Egypt  went  this  way  to  the  sea  coast  for  shipment 
to  Genoa,  Venice  and  Marseilles,  where  they  were  dis¬ 
tributed  through  Europe  and  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Abraham  went  over  this  trail  when  he  came  from  the 
north  toward  Hebron  and  he  halted  at  Shechem,  under 
the  noble  groves,  “the  terebinths  of  Moreh,’'  which 
have  since  been  displaced  by  more  useful  and  quite  as 
beautiful  olive  trees.  From  his  time  caravans  of 
camels  have  passed  along  this  highway  daily.  The 
earth  has  trembled  under  the  hoofs  of  Saladin’s 
stallions,  and  the  chariots  of  the  Assyrians  and  the 
Romans  have  cut  this  turf  with  their  wheels.  The 
prodigal  son  followed  the  same  trail  when  he  came 


THE  EAST  AND  THE  WEST 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  295 


home  from  the  far  country,  and  many  of  Christ’s  par¬ 
ables  were  told  here. 

Historical  memories  surround  every  name  upon  the 
map,  scenes  identified  with  the  lives  of  the  patriarchs, 
the  prophets,  the  kings,  are  in  range  of  the  vision  on 
every  side;  Deborah,  one  of  the  greatest  women  in 
history,  reigned  over  this  country;  the  vineyard  of 
Naboth,  which  caused  so  much  trouble  to  several 
people,  was  just  a  little  distance  to  the  west  of  us  as 
we  passed  along;  Elijah  and  Elisha  dragged  their 
weary  feet  along  this  road  often  and  again.  It  was 
the  scene  of  Jehu’s  furious  driving,  and  every  mile  is 
connected  in  some  way  or  another  with  the  lives  of 
Ahab  and  Jezebel,  Judith  and  Holofernes.  We  passed 
what  is  said  to  be  the  tomb  of  John  the  Baptist,  which 
is  vouched  for  by  St.  Jerome.  It  is  a  small  chamber 
hewn  in  the  rocks  in  the  crypt  of  a  little  church.  The 
same  chamber  contains  the  tomb  of  Obadiah,  governor 
of  the  palace  of  Ahab,  and  the  Moslems  believe  that  it 
once  contained  the  bones  of  Elisha. 

This  was  the  “Crown  of  Ephraim,”  “the  flower  of 
his  glorious  beauty,  which  is  on  the  head  of  the  fat 
valley.”  The  Emperor  Augustus  gave  Samaria  to 
Herod,  who  fortified  and  embellished  it  and  trans¬ 
formed  a  temple  to  Baal  into  a  temple  to  Caesar. 
Herod  was  a  great  builder.  He  erected  splendid  pal¬ 
aces,  gateways  and  colonnades,  and  after  he  had  built 
Samaria  he  called  it  Sebaste,  the,  Greek  for  Augustus. 
The  Crusaders  built  a  great  cathedral  at  Samaria,  whose 
roofless  walls  frown  upon  the  columns  of  Herod.  In 
his  time  Samaria  was  a  fortress,  and  before  the  inven¬ 
tion  of  gunpowder  was  invincible,  but  its  glory  has 
departed,  and  it  is  now  nothing  but  a  miserable  and 
filthy  village,  and  defaces  a  lovely  landscape.  The 


296  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

ruins  of  Herod’s  temple  and  the  colonnade  which  sur¬ 
rounded  it  lie  strewn  upon  the  ground.  There  has 
been  little  demand  for  building  material  in  this  part 
of  the  country,  hence  the  carved  marble  and  granite 
have  not  been  disturbed.  It  must  have  been  a  beauti¬ 
ful  building.  The  colonnade  was  a  double  series  of 
pillars  sixteen  feet  high,  with  Corinthian  capitals,  and 
extending  1, 800  yards.  Here  “King  Omri  slept  with 
his  fathers,  and  Ahab,  his  son,  reigned  in  his  stead, 
who  did  more  to  provoke  the  Lord  God  of  Israel  to 
anger  than  all  the  kings  of  Israel  that  were  before 
him.”  And  his  cruelty  and  crimes  come  back  to  us 
with  vivid  pictures  as  we  enter  the  gates  of  Samaria, 
where  Ahab  heard  his  sentence  of  death  from  the 
prophet  of  Jehovah,  and  where  dogs  licked  the  blood 
that  trickled  from  his  chariot. 

It  is. very  strange  that  some  of  the  religious  organiza¬ 
tions  which  are  fighting  among  each  other  over  the 
possession  of  bogus  or  daubtful  places  associated  with 
Scriptural  events  do  not  take  possession  of  Bethel,  one 
of  the  oldest,  holiest  and  most  interesting  of  all  the 
sites  referred  to  in  Christian  history.  It  is  now  called 
Betin,  and  is  an  abandoned  and  desolate  heap  of  ruins, 
with  a  few  miserable  hovels  occupied  by  wretched 
families  of  Bedouins,  who  herd  their  sheep  and  goats 
upon  the  neighboring  hills.  Although  both  the  Greek 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  monks  are  so  keen  in  seeking 
and  so  tenacious  in  holding  sacred  places  of  less  inter¬ 
est  elsewhere,  with,  the  Armenians,  the  Maronites  and 
several  other  religious  organizations  standing  by  and 
exhibiting  their  jealousy  in  various  ways,  Bethel  and 
Shiloh  both  have  been  overlooked,  and  their  locations 
are  not  even  disputed. 

The  historical  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  although 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  297 


supposed  to  have  been  written  several  centuries  after 
the  events  of  which  they  treat,  are  wonderfully  accu¬ 
rate  so  far  as  their  geography  and  descriptions  of 
topography  are  concerned,  and  it  is  easy  to  follow  the 
early  invasions  and  migrations  throughout  all  Syria  by 
reading  them.  This  fact  is  one  of  the  strongest  evi¬ 
dences  in  support  of  the  historical  truth  of  the  Script¬ 
ures.  Wherever  a  place  is  described  in  the  Bible  it 
can  be  easily  identified,  and  the  writers  of  the  graphic 
stories  we  read  in  that  most  remarkable  of  all  books 
were  certainly  familiar  with  the  scenes  depicted. 

Many  objects,  however,  are  to  be  found  at  places 
mentioned  in  the  Bible  which  are  not  referred  to  in 
the  text,  and  therefore  we  know  that  they  are  com¬ 
paratively  modern.  For  example,  at  Bethel  there  is 
an  enormous  reservoir,  314  feet  long  and  217  feet  wide, 
which  at  some  remote  period,  but  more  recent  than 
Jeremiah’s  time,  was  evidently  built  for  irrigation  pur¬ 
poses,  but  when  and  by  whom  nobody  knows.  It  was 
supplied  with  water  from  springs  in  the  bottom,  but 
most  of  them  are  dry  or  have  been  choked  up  by  rub¬ 
bish  so  that  there  is  no  water  except  in  a  few  spots 
where  the  Arab  girls  come  to  fill  their  pitchers  just  as 
we  can  imagine  that  the  handmaidens  of  Sarah,  Rachel 
and  Deborah  used  to  do  in  Bible  times;  and  it  is 
entirely  probable,  yes,  almost  certain,  that  Abraham 
and  Jacob  watered  their  flocks  at  this  very  place  before 
the  reservoir  was  built. 

The  hill  called  Bethel  is  a  conspicuous  place,  rising 
several  hundred  feet  from  the  plain  and  visible  for  a 
considerable  distance.  There  are  several  ancient 
tombs,  marble  columns  and  other  pieces  of  dressed 
stone,  some  of  them  bearing  inscriptions  and  others 
showing  evidences  of  elaborate  carving,  scattered 


298  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


about  the  fields  in  the  vicinity,  and  near  the  summit 
of  the  hill  is  a  remarkable  circle  of  large  blocks  of 
stone  which  the  Moslems  say  is  the  place  where  King 
Jeroboam  set  up  the  golden  calves  for  the  Israelites  to 
worship  and  brought  down  upon  himself  the  wrath  of 
Jehovah. 

There  is  also  the  foundation  of  a  large  square 
tower,  called  Burj  Betin  by  the  natives,  but,  like  the 
reservoir,  its  origin  is  lost  in  the  mist  of  the  ages.  It 
was  probably  built  by  the  Crusaders.  The  Moslems 
say  that  it  marks  the  spot  where  Jacob  slept  that  night 
when  he  saw  the  angels  on  the  ladder  and  when  God 
made  with  him  the  greatest  covenant  ever  made  with 
man,  and  said:  “I  am  the  Lord  God  of  Abraham,  thy 
father,  and  the  God  of  Isaac;  the  land  whereon  thou 
liest,  to  thee  will  I  give  it  and  to  thy  seed,  and  thy 
seed  shall  be  as  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  shall  spread 
abroad  to  the  west  and  to  the  east,  and  to  the  north 
and  to  the  south;  and  in  thee  and  in  thy  seed  shall  all 
the  families  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  And  Jacob  rose 
up  early  in  the  morning  and  took  the  stone  that  he  had 
used  for  his  pillow  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillar  and  poured 
oil  upon  the  top  of  it  and  he  called  the  name  of  that 
place  Bethel.”  And  yet  the  place  where  this  occurred 
is  not  only  neglected,  but  absolutely  abandoned,  and 
no  one  has  thought  it  worth  while  to  erect  a  monu¬ 
ment  there  since  the  days  of  the  Crusaders. 

The  stone  which  Jacob  used  for  a  pillow  is  supposed 
to  be  the  seat  of  the  coronation  chair  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  and  King  Edward  VII.  sat  upon  it  when  he 
received  the  crown  and  scepter  of  the  British  Empire 
in  June  1902.  This  stone  is  said  to  have  been  taken  to 
Ireland  by  one  of  the  early  Christian  missionaries,  and 
the  kings  of  Ireland  were  crowned  upon  it;  it  was  then 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  299 


carried  to  Scotland  and  was  the  throne  of  the  Scottish 
kings  for  centuries,  and  finally  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Confessor  it  was  brought  to  London,  and  has  since 
been  in  Westminster  Abbey. 

If  there  were  no  other  associations,  this  alone  should 
induce  the  British  people  to  preserve  and  protect 
Bethel,  or  at  least  to  erect  some  memorial  that  will 
counteract  the  neglect,  for  it  is  not  only  absolutely 
identified  as  one  of  the  most  ancient  religious  sanctu¬ 
aries  in  the  world,  but  it  is  the  midst  of  a  lovely  land¬ 
scape  and  surroundings  that  might  be  made  very 
attractive,  although  to-day  they  are  repulsive. 

Queen  Victoria  traced  her  ancestry  to  Circa,  daughter 
of  Zedekiah,  the  last  king  of  Judea,  through  James  I., 
who  placed  the  Lion  of  the  Tribe  of  Judah  upon  the 
British  standard.  The  story  goes  that  580  years  before 
Christ,  at  the  time  of  the  Babylonian  captivity,  Circa, 
daughter  of  Zedekiah,  arrived  in  Ireland  and  was 
married  at  Tara  to  Heremon,  a  prince  of  the  Tuatha 
de  Daman,  which  is  the  Celtic  name  for  the  Tribe  of 
Dan.  This  young  princess,  at  the  time  of  the  destruc¬ 
tion  of  Jerusalem,  was  rescued  and  taken  to  Egypt  by 
the  prophet  Jeremiah,  her  guardian,  and  the  palace 
Taphanes,  in  which  she  resided,  was  discovered  by 
Dr.  Petrie,  the  celebrated  archeologist,  in  1886.  Jere¬ 
miah  took  with  him  the  stone  of  testimony,  “Bethel,” 
and  preserved  it  at  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and 
during  the  captivity  of  the  Jews.  It  was  the  only 
witness  of  the  compact  between  Jehovah  and  Israel. 
It  was  the  stone  that  Jacob,  the  son  of  Isaac,  the  son 
of  Abraham,  used  as  a  pillow  when  he  laid  down  to 
sleep  upon  the  starlit  plains  of  Judea  that  memorable 
night  when  he  was  traveling  from  Bathsheba  to  Plaran 
in  search  of  a  wife.  It  was  then  that  he  had  his 


300  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


dream,  and  saw  angels  and  archangels  ascending  and 
descending  a  ladder  that  reached  to  Heaven  And 
Jehovah  came  to  him  and  made  the  great  promise 
which  is  being  fulfilled  to  the  Jews  this  very  day.  And 
Jacob  took  the  stone  and  set  it  up  for  a  pillow,  and 
poured  oil  upon  it  and  vowed  a  vow  and  called  the 
name  of  the  place  “Bethel.’ ’  The  kings  of  Israel  were 
crowned  upon  it  from  the  time  they  ruled  the  nation — 
David,  Saul,  Solomon  and  all  the  rest,  and  when  Jere¬ 
miah  took  it  to  Ireland  it  was  used  as  the  throne  of  the 
Irish  kings.  And  they  called  it  Lia  Phail  (the  Stone 
Wonderful). 

Fergus  I.  carried  it  to  Scotland,  and  thence  to  Lon¬ 
don  in  the  year  1200,  and  there  it  was  placed  in  the 
seat  of  the  British  throne,  and  has  been  used  at  the 
coronation  of  every  king  and  queen  of  England  from 
Edward  I.  down  to  Edward  VII.  It  is  therefore  the  most 
precious  historical  object  in  the  British  Empire,  as  it 
was  the  palladium  of  Israel.  It  is  an  interesting  fact 
that  the  altars  of  Ireland  were  called  “Bethel”  (houses 
of  God). 

The  stone  may  be  seen  in  Westminster  Abbey  in  the 
seat  of  an  old  Gothic  chair,  which  stands  in  the  Chapel 
of  St.  Edward,  beside  the  sword  and  shield  of  Edward 
III.,  and  the  graves  of  six  kings,  five  queens,  four 
princesses,  one  duke  and  a  bishop. 

If  Mrs.  Adams,  the  author  of  “Nearer,  My  God,  to 
Thee,”  perhaps  the  favorite  of  more  people  than  any 
other  hymn  in  the  English  language,  had  ever  seen 
Bethel,  she  would  not  have  written  some  of  her  lines. 
To  those  who  have  never  been  among  the  hills  of 
Ephraim,  her  hyperbole  seems  appropriate,  but  people 
who  come  to  Bethel  can  never  sing  that  hymn  again 
with  the  same  fervor.  That  is  one  of  the  great  objec- 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  301 

tions  to  visiting  the  Holy  Land.  So  many  illusions 
are  destroyed. 

Bethel  is  also  the  place  where  the  naughty  children 
mocked  the  Prophet  Elisha  and  yelled  “Go  up,  thou 
baldhead.”  Perhaps  they  are  not  the  same  children 
that  threw  stones  and  sticks  at  us,  but  at  least  they 
have  the  same  dispositions. 

Following  the  mountain  ridge  for  an  hour  in  a  south¬ 
westerly  direction  and  skirting  the  base  of  the  moun¬ 
tain  called  Baal  Hazor,  referred  to  in  the  story  of 
Samuel,  we  reach  a  little  village,  called  Tibneh,  of 
about  600  Christians,  with  a  Greek  church  and  school 
and  a  Franciscan  monastery,  which  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Eli  Smith,  an  eminent  Presbyterian  missionary,  after  a 
thorough  investigation,  identified  as  the  ancient 
Timnath-Serah,  where  Joshua,  the  great  leader,  the 
stout  soldier  and  the  master  of  military  strategy,  closed 
his  long  and  glorious  career  when  he  was  no  years 
old.  “And  they  buried  him  in  the  border  of  his  inher¬ 
itance  in  Timnath-Serah,  which  is  in  Mount  Ephraim 
on  the  north  side  of  the  hill  of  Gaash,”  It  is  surpris¬ 
ing  that  so  eminent  a  man  as  Joshua  should  have 
chosen  this  place  for  his  tomb,  but  we  do  not  know 
what  reasons  may  have  influenced  him.  The  spot 
occupies  a  central  position  in  the  territory  allotted  to 
his  own  tribe,  and  the  surroundings,  which  are  bold, 
rugged  and  barren,  may  have  appealed  to  his  stalwart 
soul.  The  Roman  road  from  Jerusalem  to  Caesarea 
passes  through  the  village,  and  it  is  interesting  in  this 
connection  to  remember  that  St.  Paul  was  escorted  that 
way  by  a  squad  of  soldiers  on  his  way  to  Rome. 

That  the  sepulcher  was  intended  for  a  man  of  dis¬ 
tinction  is  manifest  by  many  evidences,  and  it  seems 
to  have  been  a  favorite  burying  place,  which  is 


302  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


natural,  because  Oriental  people  of  all  times  and  all 
sects  have  been  in  the  habit  of  securing  themselves 
tombs  in  the  neighborhood  of  those  of  men  they 
admired.  The  tomb  itself  is  a  chamber  of  stone 
divided  into  three  parts  by  thick  walls.  The  central 
chamber  is  nine  by  eight  by  six  feet,  those  on  either 
side  are  almost  the  same  size.  If  this  is  really  the 
burial  place  of  Joshua,  there  is  no  more  interesting 
sepulcher  in  the  world. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  old  Roman  road  is  an 
ancient  oak  which  is  claimed  to  be  the  oldest  and  the 
noblest  tree  in  Palestine,  and  is  called  by  the  natives 
“the  oak  of  Abraham,”  although  I  do  not  understand 
the  reason. 

This  old  Roman  road  was  one  of  several  built  by 
Herod  the  Great,  who  was  a  very  different  man  from 
his  son,  Antipas  Herod,  referred  to  in  the  previous 
chapter.  You  cannot  visit  any  part  of  Palestine  without 
seeing  evidences  of  his  enterprise,  his  public  spirit  and 
his  wisdom,  and  in  his  time  the  country  must  have  been 
at  its  best.  By  birth  an  Arab,  by  profession  a  Jew,  by 
policy  a  Roman,  by  the  force  of  his  genius  and  cunning 
he  rose  in  thirty  years  from  a  captaincy  in  Caesar’s 
army  to  occupy  the  throne  of  David  and  Solomon. 
He  was  a  man  of  intense  energy,  courage,  ability, 
eloquence  and  unlimited  ambition,  and  with  these 
qualities  had  the  intellectual  culture  and  artistic  taste 
of  the  Greeks.  He  loved  luxury  and  wealth,  and  his 
pleasures  were  imitated  from  the  profligates  of  Athens. 
He  gave  his  children  Greek  names,  stamped  the  Mace¬ 
donian  helmet  and  shield  upon  his  coin,  employed 
architects  from  Athens  to  design  his  palaces,  intro¬ 
duced  Olympian  games  into  Palestine  and  spent  much 
of  his  time  studying  the  Greek  language  and  literature. 


FROM  NAZARETH  TO  JERUSALEM  303 


But  with  all  these  good  points  he  was  merciless, 
treacherous  and  insincere.  He  endeavored  with  great 
patience,  skill  and  prudence  to  persuade  the  rabbis  to 
consent  to  religious  toleration;  his  most  beloved 
companion  was  the  high  priest  of  the  Jews;  he 
encouraged  learning,  literature,  science  and  art;  he 
favored  the  common  people  at  the  expense  of  the 
nobles  and  the  princes,  and  even  allowed  himself  to 
be  proclaimed  as  the  Messiah  from  whom  they 
expected  deliverance. 

He  restored  the  glory  of  Zion;  under  his  hand  and 
with  his  wealth  Jerusalem  became  even  more  splendid 
than  in  the  days  of  Solomon.  He  rebuilt  it  from  wall 
to  wall  and  made  a  city  of  marble  palaces  where  there 
had  been  a  town  of  mud  huts.  And  as  visible  evi¬ 
dences  of  his  adoration  for  Jehovah,  he  commenced  a 
more  costly  temple  than  that  erected  by  Solomon. 

Herod  had  nine  wives,  all  living  at  the  same  time, 
and  chose  them  from  policy  as  well  as  from  love.  He 
had  also  a  large  number  of  favorites  without  asking 
the  blessing  of  the  church  or  the  consent  of  the  law 
upon  their  union.  One  of  his  wives  was  his  brother’s 
child,  another  was  his  sister’s  child,  and  one  of  his 
concubines  was  Cleopatra,  afterward  the  famous 
Queen  of  Egypt.  His  crimes  were  innumerable  and 
ghastly.  When  he  was  early  upon  the  throne  he  mur¬ 
dered  all  the  priests  and  nobles  who  objected  to  his 
authority,  seventy  in  number;  he  caused  his  brother- 
in-law,  Aristobulus,  to  be  drowned;  he  slew  one  of  his 
fathers-in-law,  Hyrcanus;  he  assassinated  his  sister’s 
husband,  his  uncle  Joseph,  and  with  his  own  hands 
put  Antipater,  his  own  first-born  son,  to  death.  He 
murdered  his  proud  queen,  Mariamne,  the  Macca- 
bean,  in  his  rage,  and  attempted  to  betray  Cleopatra 


304  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


to  death,  but  she  escaped  him;  he  strangled  her 
mother,  Alexandra,  and  Alexander  and  Aristobulus, 
his  two  sons  by  Mariamne,  for  fear  they  would  try  to 
avenge  her  death.  Some  of  his  nearest  friends  and 
companions  were  poisoned,  drowned  by  force, 
strangled  or  stabbed  to  death.  In  every  part  of  the 
country  aged  men,  unoffending  children  and  innocent 
women  were  put  to  the  sword,  but  the  crime  for  which 
the  world  remembers  him  is  the  massacre  of  the  inno¬ 
cents  at  Bethlehem  in  order  that  the  Christ  Child 
might  not  escape. 

A  few  months  later  this  splendid  but  wicked  mon¬ 
arch  died  like  a  dog  in  the  midst  of  his  luxuries,  eaten 
up  by  putrid  sores,  surrounded  by  quarreling  chil¬ 
dren  and  conspiring  slaves.  One  of  his  slaves,  named 
Simon,  plundered  the  royal  palace  of  its  treasures, 
burned  the  magnificent  public  buildings  that  Herod 
had  erected,  placed  the  dead  man’s  crown  upon  his 
own  brow  and  proclaimed  himself  the  Jewish  Messiah. 
In  the  heat  of  the  sensation  caused  by  Herod’s  death 
many  of  the  people  bowed  before  this  creature  as  a 
Christ  and  king  until  Valerius  Gratius,  the  Roman 
general  in  command  of  the  garrison,  seized  him  and 
struck  off  his  head. 


XVI 


Modern  Samaria  and  Modern 
Samaritans 


305 


XVI 

MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  MODERN  SAMARITANS 

The  region  around  Samaria  is  full  of  history  from 
the  remotest  times.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  the  six¬ 
teenth  chapter  of  First  Kings,  which  says:  “In  the 
thirty  and  first  year  of  Asa,  King  of  Judea,  began 
Omri  to  reign  over  Israel.  And  he  bought  the  hill 
Samaria  of  Shemer,  for  two  talents  of  silver,  and  built 
on  the  hill  and  called  the  name  of  the  city  which  he 
built  after  the  name  of  the  owner  of  the  hill,  Samaria.” 
It  became  the  rival  of  Jerusalem,  and  was  the  capital 
of  the  kindom  of  Israel.  From  here  the  captives  were 
carried  away  into  Assyria  by  the  rivers  of  waters. 
Later  it  was  a  Roman  province,  and  one  of  the  most 
profitable  in  its  revenues  to  Herod,  a  rich  grain  grow¬ 
ing  country,  and  the  scene  of  much  military  activity, 
political  conspiracy  and  rebellion,  religious  apostacy, 
official  corruption,  crime  and  social  depravity. 

After  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  the  Babylonian 
captivity,  the  Samaritans  professed  to  worship  Jehovah 
and  claimed  the  rights  and  glory  that  belonged  to  the 
people  of  God,  and  ultimately  Samaria  swallowed  most 
of  Israel,  and  the  word  Samaritan  became  commonly 
used  to  distinguish  the  descendants  of  the  other  tribes 
from  those  of  Judea  and  Benjamin.  Many  learned 
authorities  repudiated  their  title  to  Israelitish  ances¬ 
try,  maintaining  that  the  entire  Israelitish  population 
was  carried  away  captive  from  Samaria  by  the  kings  of 
Assyria,  and  that  few  of  them  ever  returned.  There 
was  always  bitter  animosity  between  them  and  the 
Jews,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Samaria  claim  to 

307 


3o8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


be  descended  from  Joseph  the  wisest  and  most  famous 
of  the  twelve  sons  of  Jacob,  and  gloried  in  their 
ancestry. 

“Art  thou  greater  than  our  father  Jacob?”  asked  the 
woman  of  Jesus  at  the  well. 

The  incidents  of  the  sojourn  of  the  Savior  in  Samaria 
indicate  that  the  ancient  hatred  was  in  full  flame  at 
His  time.  “The  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the 
Samaritans,”  said  the  woman,  and  James  and  John 
proposed  to  command  “fire  to  come  down  from  heaven 
and  consume  them,”  because  the  people  denied  ordi¬ 
nary  hospitality  to  the  Lord  and  His  disciples  when 
they  were  passing  through  the  province  of  Jerusalem; 
but  Jesus  rebuked  them.  He  always  treated  the 
Samaritans  with  respect  and  cordiality,  and  although 
at  first,  when  He  sent  His  disciples  out  upon  their  min¬ 
istry,  He  admonished  them  not  to  enter  any  city  of  the 
Samaritans,  it  was  probably  because  He  feared  they 
would  not  be  well  received.  He  changed  His  policy 
soon  after.  He  visited  and  preached  to  the  Samari¬ 
tans,  and  the  apostles  received  many  of  them  into 
Christian  fellowship.  But  for  its  crime  and  corruption 
“the  wrath  of  God”  was  directed  against  the  ancient 
city.  “Therefore  will  I  make  Samaria  as  a  heap  of 
the  field.  .  .  .  And  I  will  pour  down  the  stones 
thereof  into  the  valley.” 

That  prophecy  has  been  fulfilled.  Everything  is  in 
ruins.  The  summit  and  the  slopes  of  the  noble  hill 
upon  which  the  city  stood,  the  valleys  that  surround 
it,  the  olive  groves,  the  wheat  fields  and  vineyards  are 
littered  with  the  rubbish  of  walls  that  have  crumbled, 
of  fortifications  that  have  fallen  and  towers  that  have 
been  overthrown.  Pompey  restored  the  city  at  great 
expense.  Augustus  Caesar  gave  it  his  imperial  favor. 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  309 

Herod  the  Great  called  it  Sebaste  and  adorned  it  with 
splendid  public  buildings,  palaces,  temples,  fountains, 
baths,  theaters,  stadiums  and  colonnades,  but  all  these 
have  disappeared  and  in  the  world’s  progress  the  proud 
capital  has  dwindled  to  an  insignificant  village  of 
shepherds,  who  do  not  fill  half  the  mud  huts  of  which 
it  is  composed. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  interest  in  Samaria  was 
revived  by  the  discovery  of  a  manuscript  copy  of  the 
Pentateuch,  which  was  found  to  vary  in  some  impor¬ 
tant  particulars  from  the  text  generally  accepted  by 
the  Jews.  For  a  time  there  was  an  animated  contro¬ 
versy  among  Oriental  scholars  and  Biblical  critics,  but 
there  were  no  important  results.  The  Samaritans 
assert  that  it  was  written  by  a  grandson  of  Aaron,  but 
the  keenest  experts  locate  its  origin  shortly  after  the 
Christian  era  began.  The  manuscript  is  a  roll  about 
fifteen  inches  wide,  upon  a  silver  rod,  and  is  kept  in  a 
costly  silver  case,  with  a  cover  of  green  Venetian  vel¬ 
vet.  This  is  wrapped  in  an  embroidered  scarf  of 
crimson  satin,  which  is  removed  with  great  reverence 
when  the  manuscript  is  about  to  be  shown  to  visitors. 
The  silver  case  is  adorned  with  high  relief  represent¬ 
ing  scenes  that  occurred  in  the  tabernacle  in  the 
ancient  days.  Visitors  are  allowed  to  see  a  Codex 
upon  the  payment  of  a  fee  of  2  francs,  but  they  may 
be  sure  that  it  is  not  the  genuine  one.  A  copy  is  kept 
in  a  duplicate  case  for  that  purpose. 

The  Jews  of  Jerusalem  reject  this  manuscript  with 
scorn  and  still  deny  to  the  Samaritans  the  honor  of 
relationship.  They  condemn  the  rites  practiced  by 
the  Jews  of  Samaria  as  pagan,  and  declare  those  who 
practice  them  aliens  in  blood,  in  language  and  in 
creed,  and  outcasts  from  the  tribes  of  Israel.  The 


3io  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Samaritans,  on  the  contrary,  ridicule  the  Jerusalem 
Jews  as  narrow  bigots.  The  Samaritan  Jews  have 
been  reduced  to  a  very  small  colony,  and  now  number 
only  about  170.  They  are  the  oldest  and  the  smallest 
sect  in  the  world,  and  are  distinguished  by  their  noble 
physiognomy  and  dignified  appearance  and  their  long 
prayers.  Their  creed  is  a  monotheism.  They  abhor 
all  images,  pictures  and  symbols  of  worship  and  for¬ 
bid  human  attributes  to  be  ascribed  to  God. 

They  look  for  the  appearance  of  the  Messiah  six 
thousand  years  after  the  creation  of  the  world,  which, 
according  to  their  reckoning,  will  come  toward  the  end 
of  the  next  century,  but  they  are  diminishing  fast,  and 
as  they  will  not  marry  outside  their  own  community, 
it  is  scarcely  probable  that  any  of  them  will  remain  for 
the  advent.  Bigamy  is  permitted  if  the  first  wife  is 
childless,  and  when  a  married  man  dies  his  nearest 
relation  excepting  his  brothers  is  bound  to  marry  the 
widow.  Each  young  man  is  expected  to  marry  his 
next  of  kin,  sisters  and  members  of  the  same  family 
excepted.  This  intermarriage  among  relatives  has  so 
diluted  the  blood  that  the  gradual  extinction  of  the 
race  is  accounted  for. 

Their  literature  consists  of  their  famous  Pentateuch 
and  prayers  and  hymns,  their  oldest  chronicles  in 
manuscript  date  from  the  captivity;  they  celebrate  all 
the  festivals  of  Moses  and  offer  sacrifices  at  the  Pass- 
over.  At  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  they  make  a  pil¬ 
grimage  to  the  top  of  Mount  Gerizim,  the  oldest 
sanctuary  in  the  world.  Probably  at  no  other  locality 
has  the  same  worship  been  sustained  with  so  little 
change  or  interruption  for  so  many  centuries,  from  the 
time  of  Abraham  until  the  present  day.  They  have 
an  humble  synagogue  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  and 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  31 1 


there,  upon  the  feast  of  the  tabernacle,  they  meet, 
prostrate  themselves  before  their  precious  copy  of  the 
Pentateuch  and  bow  their  heads,  not  in  the  direction 
of  Jerusalem,  but  toward  the  eastern  summit  of  Geri- 
zim.  Then  they  form  a  procession  in  the  order  of 
their  rank  and  pass  slowly  up  the  pathway  to  the  top 
of  the  mountain,  where  they  alone  of  all  the  Jewish 
race  celebrate  the  pascal  sacrifice  of  seven  white  lambs. 
Their  prayers  are  repeated  in  the  Samaritan  dialect. 
The  men  wear  surplices  and  red  turbans.  The  office 
of  the  high  priest  is  hereditary,  and  Yakob,  the  pres¬ 
ent  incumbent,  is  a  descendant  of  the  tribe  of  Levi. 
His  ecclesiastical  rank  makes  him  the  temporal  as  well 
as  the  spiritual  head  of  the  community,  and  according 
to  the  Mosaic  law,  his  parishioners  pay  him  one-tenth 
of  all  their  income  and  their  earnings  and  their  harvest. 

Mount  Gerizim  is  believed  by  the  Samaritans  to  be 
the  scene  of  Abraham’s  sacrifice  and  of  his  meeting 
with  Melchizedek.  It  is  known  in  the  Bible  as 
Ar-Gerizim,  the  Mountain  of  the  Most  High,  and 
although  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  churches  claim 
other  sites,  the  best  authorities,  including  Dr.  Thomp¬ 
son,  Dean  Stanley  and  representatives  of  the  Palestine 
Exploration  Society,  locate  those  two  events  there. 
“Beyond  all  doubt,”  Dean  Stanley  says,  “Isaac  was 
offered  on  Gerizim,  and  the  Samaritans  show  an 
ancient  thorn  tree,  covered  with  the  rags  of  pilgrims, 
as  the  site  of  the  thicket  in  which  the  ram  was 
caught.” 

The  Holy  Place  of  the  Samaritans  is  on  the  eastern 
extremity,  where  there  is  a  large  stone  upon  which  the 
lamb  is  roasted  upon  the  evening  of  the  Passover. 
Near  by  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  Samaritan  tem¬ 
ple.  In  one  of  the  towers  is  the  tomb  of  a  Mussulman 


312  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

saint.  Under  the  southern  wall  is  a  line  of  rocky  slabs 
called  “the  ten  stones,”  said  to  have  been  brought 
there  by  Joshua  and  the  ten  tribes  of  the  northern 
kingdom  of  Israel;  Judah  and  Benjamin  not  being 
represented.  They  were  formerly  arranged  in  a  plat¬ 
form  and  were  used  as  an  altar,  and  the  Samaritans 
believe  that  they  mark  not  only  the  spot  of  Abraham's 
sacrifice,  but  the  Bethel  of  Jacob  and  the  place  where 
the  ark  rested. 

There  is  a  large  reservoir  on  the  top  of  the  moun¬ 
tain,  several  smaller  cisterns,  and  paved  terraces.  The 
whole  surface  indicates  that  the  summit  was  once 
pretty  well  covered  with  buildings,  but  the  Samaritans 
have  the  place  practically  to  themselves  these  days. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Valley  of  Shechem  stands  a 
white  Mussulman  chapel  and  a  pile  of  broken  stone. 
The  first  covers  the  alleged  tomb  of  Joseph,  who  was 
buried  in  the  “parcel  of  ground”  which  Jacob 
bequeathed  to  his  favorite  son.  The  pile  of  rocks 
marks  the  undisputed  site  of  the  well  which  Jacob 
digged  “to  mark  his  first  possession”  and  “to  give 
drink  thereof  to  himself,  his  children  and  his  cattle.” 
Two  chapels  are  shown  as  the  tomb  of  Joseph,  but 
nobody  questions  the  authenticity  of  the  well.  It  was 
there,  on  the  edge  of  a  little  village  called  Belata,  that 
Jesus  asked  the  Samaritan  woman  for  a  drink  of  water. 

The  tomb  of  Joseph  resembles  an  ordinary  grave  of 
an  eminent  Moslem,  and  it  is  held  in  reverence  by  Jew 
and  Gentile,  Christian  and  Moslem.  There  are 
Hebrew,  Samaritan  and  Arabic  inscriptions  upon  the 
walls,  but  they  are  apparently  modern  and  have  no 
importance.  Niches  in  the  walls  are  provided  for 
small  lamps,  which  are  lighted  on  feast  days,  but  the 
entire  building  is  in  a  dilapidated  condition  and  a  dis- 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  313 


grace  to  the  country.  When  Joseph  was  about  to  die 
in  his  regal  palace  on  the  Nile  he  gave  a  strict  com¬ 
mandment  concerning  his  bones.  He  even  ‘‘took  an 
oath  of  the  children  of  Israel,  saying,  God  will  surely 
visit  you,  and  ye  shall  carry  my  bones  up  from 
thence,”  and  it  is  the  tradition  that  the  Israelites  car¬ 
ried  the  mummy  of  Joseph  through  all  the  forty  years 
of  wandering  in  the  wilderness  and  finally  laid  it  here. 

The  well  is  a  pit  about  sixty  feet  deep,  covered  with 
a  confused  mass  of  rubbish,  and  the  surroundings  are 
overgrown  with  weeds  and  nettles.  It  was  formerly 
covered  by  a  church,  the  foundations  of  which  can  be 
distinctly  traced.  The  church  is  mentioned  by  St. 
Jerome  in  the  fourth  and  Arculphus  in  the  seventh  cen¬ 
tury,  and  was  still  standing  during  the  crusades.  The 
walls  were  as  high  as  the  head  of  a  man  when  the  place 
was  first  visited  by  Protestant  missionaries,  seventy- 
five  years  ago,  but  they  are  now  pretty  well  effaced. 
There  is  a  decided  difference  in  the  statements  of 
various  authorities  as  to  the  depth  of  the  well,  which  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  rubbish  that  has  been  thrown  into 
it.  It  is  now  in  possession  of  the  Greek  monks,  who 
are  responsible  for  its  bad  condition. 

Nablus  is  the  wealthiest,  the  most  populous  and  the 
most  important  commercial  city  in  the  Holy  Land 
between  Damascus  and  Jerusalem,  and  is  particularly 
interesting  to  us  because  it  stands  upon  the  farm  which 
Jacob  bought  of  the  ‘‘children  of  Hamor,  Shechem’s 
father,  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  money,”  after  he 
escaped  from  his  crafty  and  selfish  father-in-law  and 
had  entered  Canaan  to  set  up  a  home  for  himself. 
Hence  it  is  one  of  the  oldest  of  human  settlements 
and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  in  Palestine,  which 
is  due  to  the  abundant  supply  of  water  in  that  locality. 


3H  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


There  are  at  least  twenty-seven  springs  in  the  imme¬ 
diate  vicinity  of  Shechem,  each  having  its  peculiar 
name.  There  are  also  a  number  of  smaller  springs 
without  names,  which  pour  their  precious  overflow 
into  the  valley  to  moisten  the  fields  and  the  orchards 
and  endow  the  soil  with  life.  One  does  not  appreciate 
the  value  of  water  until  he  has  visited  those  desert 
lands. 

But  we  hear  of  Shechem  before  Jacob’s  time,  and  it 
is  possible  that  he  may  have  taken  his  wives  and  led 
his  flocks  there  because  of  a  knowledge  of  its  advan¬ 
tages  gained  from  his  grandfather,  Abraham,  for  the 
latter,  in  the  earliest  dawn  of  what  is  termed  the 
patriarchal  age,  halted  at  these  same  springs  after  he 
had  crossed  the  Jordan  on  his  way  from  Chaldea  “to 
the  land  which  God  should  give  him.’’  It  was  there 
also,  between  two  low  peaks  called  Ebal  and  Gerizim, 
that  Moses  commanded  the  law  to  be  proclaimed 
anew,  so  that  Gerizim  has  since  been  a  second  Sinai, 
“a  mount  of  God.”  Here  Joshua  called  the  tribes 
together  in  his  old  age,  and  the  great  captain  told 
Israel  that  they  must  “choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye 
will  serve.”  The  city  had  been  given  to  the  Levites, 
the  tribe  of  priests,  who  made  it  a  sanctuary,  and  it 
became  the  meeting  place  of  national  assemblies. 
Even  after  Jerusalem  was  erected  for  the  capital  the 
custom  was  still  preserved  and  the  kings  of  Israel  for 
centuries  were  crowned  at  Shechem.  It  was  a  holy 
place  five  hundred  years  before  Jerusalem  was  thought 
of,  and  until  the  dispersion  of  the  tribes  was  consid 
ered  the  city  of  Joshua  and  the  judges,  as  Jerusalem 
was  the  city  of  David  and  the  kings. 

The  term  Nablus  is  a  corruption  of  Neapolis,  and  has 
been  attached  to  the  city  since  the  Roman  occupation, 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  315 


the  legal  title  being  Flavia  Neapolis,  so  called  to  com¬ 
memorate  its  restoration  by  Titus  Flavius  Vespasianus. 

Nablus  is  about  nineteen  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea  and  lies  in  the  center  of  a  long  plain 
with  about  25,000  inhabitants,  nearly  all  Moslems. 
There  are  perhaps  1,000  Christians,  including  150 
Protestants.  The  Church  of  England  Mission  main¬ 
tains  a  church,  a  school  and  a  hospital;  the  Francis¬ 
cans  have  a  church  and  a  monastery,  and  the  Greeks 
a  church  and  a  school.  The  Moslems  have  eight 
large  mosques,  and  among  them  are  the  finest  in 
Palestine.  That  known  as  the  Jami  en-Nasr,  or  green 
mosque,  is  said  to  occupy  the  identical  spot  where 
Jacob  stood  when  his  sons  brought  him  the  tattered 
and  bloody  coat  of  Joseph.  It  was  originally  a  Chris¬ 
tian  church  erected  by  the  Templars  before  such  a 
story  was  developed.  Another  mosque  stands  over 
what  is  claimed  to  be  the  tomb  of  several  of  Jacob’s 
sons  and  daughters,  but  all  these  legends  are  modern 
and  have  been  invented  for  the  purpose  of  attracting 
interest  to  these  places  of  Mohammedan  worship. 

Nablus  has  had  no  history  since  the  patriarchal  age, 
and  to-day  is  a  commonplace  but  busy  and  prosper¬ 
ous  town,  the  largest  industry  being  the  manufacture 
of  soap,  although  from  appearances  very  little  of  it  is 
used  by  the  people.  The  largest  buildings  in  town  are 
soap  factories,  and  they  are  twenty  in  number.  The 
soap  is  sent  by  camel  trains  to  Jaffa  and  Beirut,  and 
from  there  exported  to  Europe.  The  finer  qualities  of 
oil  are  shipped  in  goat  or  pig  skins  to  Cairo,  Alexan¬ 
dria,  Constantinople  and  other  parts  of  the  Levant. 
Olive  and  other  fruit  trees  grow  to  an  enormous  size, 
owing  to  the  abundance  of  water,  and  are  more  prolific 
in  bearing  than  elsewhere. 


3i6  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

Nablus  is  the  market  for  a  wide  agricultural  district 
embracing  several  of  the  most  fertile  valleys  and  plains 
in  Palestine  and  the  best  streams  for  irrigation.  The 
transactions  in  fruit,  grain,  wool,  sheep  and  cattle 
amount  annually  to  a  large  sum.  There  is  more  busi¬ 
ness  and  more  profitable  industrial  activity  there  than 
in  any  other  town  of  the  same  size  in  the  country. 
The  fact  that  the  place  is  without  religious  shrines  and 
monasteries  is  favorable  to  commercial  enterprise, 
because  the  people  cannot  live  upon  tourists  and  pil¬ 
grims  as  they  do  elsewhere.  It  is  a  decided  drawback 
to  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  a  place  when  the 
inhabitants  devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  business 
of  robbing  travelers. 

Although  Nablus  is  essentially  a  Moslem  town,  sev¬ 
eral  of  the  wealthiest  and  largest  traders  are  Jews,  who 
are  allowed  to  live  in  peace  and  pursue  the  avocations 
in  which  they  always  engage  successfully  when  they 
are  not  interfered  with.  During  the  Civil  War  in  the 
United  States  the  farmers  around  Nablus  engaged  in 
cotton  growing  on  a  large  scale,  and  for  ten  or  fifteen 
years,  in  the  ’60s  and  early  ’70s,  their  undertakings 
were  very  profitable.  Several  large  fortunes  were 
made  by  Greek  and  Jewish  merchants  and  speculators, 
but  owing  to  the  revival  of  American  competition  the 
industry  has  languished. 

If  Nablus  could  have  the  benefit  of  a  railway  its 
importance  would  be  greatly  increased.  Its  natural 
position,  the  fertility  of  the  surrounding  country,  the 
abundant  supply  of  water  for  agricultural  and  mechan¬ 
ical  purposes,  and  its  attractive  climate  would  bring  in 
immigiants  and  capital;  and,  strange  to  say,  it  is  one 
of  the  few  places  in  Palestine  which  seems  to  have  a 
good  government.  Although  the  people  are  prosper- 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  317 


ous  and  save  large  sums  of  money,  they  have  not 
suffered  to  any  extent  from  the  blackmailing  tenden¬ 
cies  of  the  Turkish  authorities  elsewhere.  At  least 
they  make  no  complaint,  and  the  external  evidences 
are  favorable. 

The  landscape  is  rather  tame,  but  attractive.  The 
roads  are  atrocious,  but  only  foreigners  suffer.  The 
patient  earth  has  given  forth  its  substance  for  thou¬ 
sands  and  thousands  of  years  of  uninterrupted  culti¬ 
vation;  the  olive  groves  and  the  vines  upon  the 
terraced  hillsides  never  fail  to  furnish  oil  and  wine,  no 
matter  how  wicked  and  depraved  their  owners;  the 
bubbling  springs  and  the  roaring  brooks  continue  to 
turn  the  ancient  millstones,  and  groups  of  young  men 
and  girls  make  merry  while  waiting  for  their  grist  to 
be  ground.  Enormous  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats 
browse  among  the  neighboring  ruins,  unconscious  of 
their  interest  to  Biblical  students  and  sentimental 
people,  but  the  inhabitants  are  exceptionally  inde¬ 
pendent  in  spirit,  lawless  in  behavior  and  vicious  of 
disposition.  Tourists  are  warned  not  to  engage  in  con¬ 
versation  with  natives,  and  to  beware  of  hotel-keepers 
and  strangers  who  try  to  pick  up  an  acquaintance;  and 
the  guide  books  notify  everybody  that  he  must  not 
straggle  from  the  procession  while  traveling  through 
that  part  of  the  country.  We  noticed  that  every  per¬ 
son  we  saw  in  the  fields  or  met  on  the  highway  carried 
knives  and  a  gun.  The  men  at  the  mills  and  in  the 
markets  were  heavily  armed.  “The  sheiks  of  Nablus 
and  its  neighborhood  are  all  robbers,’’  says  a  well- 
known  writer;  “their  women  are  pretty  but  deceitful 
and  the  peasants  are  insolent,  quarrelsome  and 
dangerous.” 

The  houses  of  Nablus  are  solidly  built  of  stone, 


3i8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

inclosing  courts  upon  which  doors  and  windows  open, 
while  the  outside  walls  are  unbroken  except  for  a 
single  entrance  which  is  used  alike  by  man  and  beast 
and  is  protected  by  heavy  doors  and  bars,  which  are 
unknown  and  unnecessary  in  other  parts  of  Palestine. 
The  streets  are  narrow,  crooked,  dark  and  dirty.  The 
pavements  are  worse  than  those  of  Constantinople  or 
Damascus,  and  they  are  always  crowded  with  men  and 
women  who  seem  to  be  in  a  hurry,  and  with  caravans 
of  camels  and  donkeys  which  are  not  respecters  of  per¬ 
sons.  The  camels  are  especially  impertinent,  and, 
like  the  inhabitants,  are  always  trying  to  pick  up  a 
row.  When  they  see  a  stranger  they  take  delight  in 
crowding  him  off  the  highway  into  some  mudhole,  and 
when  they  catch  him  in  one  of  the  narrow  streets  they 
jam  him  up  against  the  wall.  There  is  a  good  deal  of 
depravity  in  the  character  of  the  camel. 

The  streets  occupied  by  the  bazaars  are  arched  and 
vaulted  over  with  stone  or  corrugated  iron,  which 
makes  them  dark,  damp  and  gloomy,  and  there  is  no 
light  except  that  which  filters  through  an  occasional 
hole  pierced  in  the  roof.  The  shops  are  well  stocked 
with  goods  and  trading  seems  to  be  brisk.  Business  is 
conveniently  classified  as  in  other  Oriental  cities,  the 
dealers  in  the  same  lines  of  goods  occupying  adjoining 
stalls.  The  principal  bazaar  is  declared  to  be  the 
finest  in  Palestine,  and  may  be  so.  It  is  a  busy  place 
and  offers  a  striking  contrast  to  the  indolent  atmos¬ 
phere  of  other  towns.  From  early  morning  until  after 
sunset  it  is  filled  with  the  clamor  of  camel  and  donkey 
drivers,  lemonade  and  sherbet  sellers,  peddlers  of 
fruits  and  sweetmeats,  disputing  dealers  in  wool,  hides 
and  grain,  who  conduct  their  transactions  with  loud 
tones  and  impassioned  gestures,  and  when  you  think 


MODERN  SAMARIA  AND  SAMARITANS  319 


they  are  on  the  verge  of  a  desperate  quarrel  they  are 
only  discussing  the  fluctuations  in  fleeces  or  grain. 

They  hustle  you  out  of  their  way  in  the  true  Chicago 
style,  without  stopping  to  apologize.  Collisions  are 
often  followed  by  angry  controversies,  indignant  pro¬ 
tests  and  ineffective  blows,  but  the  outbreak  is  only 
incidental,  and  the  participants  pass  on  their  way 
without  resentment.  Some  of  the  narrow  streets  are 
almost  impassable  at  midday.  As  usual  in  such  East¬ 
ern  bazaars,  Oriental  goods  are  mixed  with  European 
merchandise.  Silks  from  Damascus  and  Antioch 
occupy  the  same  shelves  with  Manchester  prints, 
Sheffield  and  Nuremburg  cutlery  with  scimiters  from 
Damascus  and  pipes  and  amber  goods  from  Stamboul. 
Bohemian  glass  and  Dresden  china  are  exhibited  side 
by  side  with  beads  and  mother  of  pearl  work  from 
Bethlehem  and  Hebron. 

Altogether  Nablus  is  the  liveliest,  the  most  modern 
and  the  most  noisy  place  in  Palestine. 

An  hour’s  ride  north  of  Nablus  is  Telldothan,  where 
is  believed  to  be  the  genuine  pit  into  which  the  boy 
Joseph  was  cast  by  his  envious  brethren.  If  every¬ 
thing  one  hears  is  true,  Joseph  must  have  been  cast 
into  a  good  many  pits,  and  they  are  all  pointed  out  to 
tourists  with  the  most  serious  vouchers  of  authenticity; 
but  the  most  reliable  and  disinterested  authorities  seem 
to  have  demonstrated  beyond  a  doubt  that  Telldothan 
was  actually  the  scene  of  that  extraordinary  incident 
in  Biblical  history,  which  never  fails  to  excite  the 
interest  and  indignation  of  Sunday  school  boys.  The 
wicked  brethren  are  supposed  to  have  been  loafing 
around  a  big  spring  known  as  Ain  el  Hufireh,  when 
they  saw  Joseph  afar  off.  “And  they  said  one  to 
another:  Behold  the  dreamer  cometh.  Come  now, 


320  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


therefore,  let  us  slay  him  and  cast  him  into  the  same 
pit” — and  they  did  so.  If  you  do  not  know  the  rest 
of  the  story  and  the  consequences  that  followed  the 
spitefulness  of  those  young  rascals,  you  can  read  it  in 
Genesis  xxxvii. 

The  Ishmaelites  to  whom  they  sold  Joseph  were 
carrying  down  to  Egypt  the  balm  of  Gilead  which  is 
as  well  known  now  as  it  was  four  thousand  years  ago, 
and  is  gathered  in  large  quantities  in  the  forests  on  the 
mountains  east  of  the  Jordan.  It  is  not  a  medicine, 
however,  as  is  generally  supposed.  Perhaps  that 
notion  is  due  largely  to  the  inquiry,  “Is  there  no  balm 
in  Gilead?”  That  which  is  brought  into  the  market  of 
Nablus  to-day  is  a  gum  mastic,  known  to  botany  as 
Balsamum  Gileadense,  and  is  used  for  making  varnish 
and  shellac.  It  is  shipped  to  Egypt,  to  Constantinople 
and  other  neighboring  ports,  but  the  largest  quantity 
goes  to  Italy  and  France. 


XVII 

The  Jewish  Colonies  in  Palestine 


321 


XVII 


THE  JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE 

For  many  years  patriotic  and  philanthropic  Jews 
throughout  the  world  have  been  promoting  a  move¬ 
ment  to  recover  and  re-people  the  Holy  Land  with 
members  of  their  own  race  and  religion;  to  reassem¬ 
ble  in  the  Promised  Land  all  the  living  children  of 
Israel,  for  it  is  the  land  that  was  given  to  their 
fathers  by  the  Great  Jehovah^  in  his  covenant  with 
Jacob.  The  practical  element  does  not  look  upon  the 
proposition  with  great  favor,  but  it  appeals  very 
strongly  to  racial  and  religious  sentiment,  and  its 
advocates  are  able  to  arouse  much  zeal  and  raise  large 
amounts  of  money  to  advance  it.  Zionist  conven¬ 
tions,  or  conferences,  are  held  annually,  to  which  dele¬ 
gates  are  invited  from  all  Jewish  communities  in  the 
world,  and  measures  more  or  less  practical  are  formu¬ 
lated  and  adopted.  The  recognized  leader  of  the 
movement  is  Dr.  Herzl,  editor  of  the  Neue  Freie 
Presse ,  one  of  the  newspapers  of  Vienna. 

The  individuality  of  the  Jew  is  stronger  than”  that  of 
any  other  race,  and  he  is  prominent  in  certain  fields  of 
activity,  but  he  has  failed  as  a  fighter  and  as  a  farmer, 
and  that  is  one  reason  his  children  are  scattered  over 
the  earth.  In  finance,  in  commerce,  in  industries  of 
all  kinds,  in  literature,  art,  music  and  various  other 
lines  of  usefulness,  the  ability  of  the  Jew  cannot  be 
denied.  If  any  one  doubts  it  let  him  read  a  book  pub¬ 
lished  by  Mr.  Strauss  of  New  York  upon  the  achieve¬ 
ments  of  the  Jewish  people,  or  let  him  ride  up 

323 


324  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Broadway,  New  York  City,  and  look  at  the  sign 
boards  upon  the  buildings. 

The  finances,  the  newspapers,  the  railways,  the 
great  industries  of  Europe,  are  largely  controlled  by 
Jews,  where  their  power  is  even  greater  than  in  the 
United  States,  yet  they  were  elbowed  out  of  Palestine, 
the  land  which  the  Lord  God  said  should  be  theirs  for¬ 
ever  and  ever.  Because  they  were  poor  sailors  they 
lost  the  coast;  because  they  were  poor  farmers  they 
lost  the  fertile  fields;  because  they  were  poor  horse¬ 
men  they  lost  the  pastures  and  were  compelled  to  con¬ 
fine  their  activity  to  the  narrow  streets  of  the  towns. 
Those  hardy  seamen,  the  Phoenicians,  got  the  com¬ 
merce;  the  Syrians  and  Greeks  the  farms,  and  the 
herds  and  flocks  belong  to  the  sons  of  Ishmael  and 
Esau,  who  still  dwell  in  black  tents  of  camel’s  hair. 
These  rival  races  seldom  mix.  They  never  intermar¬ 
ried;  they  could  not  live  together,  but  kept  their  own 
lines  and  their  own  trades.  The  same  rules  and  con¬ 
ditions  prevail  to-day.  The  Jews,  the  Assyrians,  the 
Arabs,  the  Armenians,  the  Turks,  the  Maronites,  the 
Druses,  each  keep  their  own  language,  their  own  cus¬ 
toms  and  habits  and  their  own  dress  as  tenaciously  as 
their  own  religion.  Each  worships  his  own  god. 

Palestine  is  first  a  pastoral  and  next  an  agricultural 
country.  The  most  valuable  staple  is  wool;  after  that 
wheat,  hides  and  skins,  oil  and  wine.  There  is  no  fuel 
and  no  water  power,  hence  there  can  be  no  extensive 
manufacturing,  and  consequently  a  limited  mercantile 
business.  A  considerable  portion  of  the  land, — esti¬ 
mates  vary  between  45  and  62  per  cent,  is  unproduc¬ 
tive,  fit  only  for  grazing,  and  a  Texas  ranchman,  who 
has  been  over  the  country,  estimates  that  over  there 
ten  acres  of  pasture  are  needed  for  every  sheep. 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  325 

Palestine  is  a  small  country,  not  more  than  150  miles 
in  length  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  and  has  an  average 
breadth  of  not  more  than  fifty  miles.  The  area  of  all 
Syria,  including  Palestine,  is  officially  calculated  at 
108,000  square  miles,  and  the  population  is  between 
3,000,000  and  3,500,000,  which  gives  about  thirty 
inhabitants  to  the  square  mile,  or  about  the  same 
density  of  population  as  the  State  of  Mississippi. 
New  York  State  has  122,  and  Great  Britain  309  to  the 
square  mile. 

Thus  it  becomes  a  question  of  mathematics. 

The  area  of  Palestine  alone  is  estimated  at  10,500 
square  miles  and  the  population  650,000,  or  about 
sixty-two  persons  to  the  square  mile,  which  is  very 
small  compared  with  the  European  countries,  and  is 
certainly  much  less  than  the  country  can  support.  Its 
productiveness  could  be  increased  many  fold  by  the 
introduction  of  modern  methods  and  labor-saving 
machinery.  The  land  is  not  half  tilled  and  the  flocks 
are  not  half  kept.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  nearly  all  of  the  Hebrew  inheritance  east  of 
the  Jordan  is  a  useless  desert,  and  the  area  west  of  the 
Jordan  capable  of  sustaining  human  life  does  not 
exceed  7,000  square  miles. 

According  to  the  census  taken  by  Moses  the  total 
number  of  the  nine  and  a  half  tribes  which  passed  over 
Jordan  to  occupy  the  area  mentioned  was  about  2,000,- 
000.  There  are  now  about  7, 500,000  Jews  alive.  At 
the  most  prosperous  period  of  the  Hebrew  nation  the 
population  is  supposed  to  have  been  about  3,500,000, 
hence  the  advocates  of  Zionism  argue  that  the  country 
is  capable  of  supporting  that  number  of  people.  They 
forget,  however,  that  the  Hebrews  in  olden  times  lived 
upon  far  less  than  is  required  by  the  people  of  the 


326  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


present  day.  Each  raised  the  sustenance  of  his  own 
family;  their  clothing  was  made  from  the  wool  of  their 
own  flocks;  their  habitations  were  rude  and  cost  but 
little  labor  and  less  money;  they  had  no  furniture; 
their  household  equipments  were  home-made;  the 
entire  family  lived  and  slept  in  a  single  room  on  the 
mud  floor  with  few  changes  of  clothing. 

But  even  if  there  were  room  for  the  7,500,000  Jews 
of  to-day  in  Palestine,  what  inducements  could  coax 
those  who  are  successful  and  contented  elsewhere  into 
a  dreary  and  lonesome  country,  without  amusements, 
art,  culture  or  opportunities  for  business,  and  what 
are  they  to  do  when  they  get  there?  And,  assuming 
that  they  would  go,  how  are  they  going  to  get  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  country?-  Who  will  crowd  out  the  fierce 
Arabs  and  persuade  them  to  sell  their  land,  and  where 
will  they  go,  and  the  Syrians  and  the  Greeks,  who 
will  also  be  displaced?  Who  will  stay  the  hands  of 
the  Druses  and  Maronites?  They  hate  the  Jews  more 
than  any  other  sect,  and  are  the  most  fanatical  of  all 
the  believers  in  Christ.  The  Jews  get  along  better 
with  the  Moslems  than  with  any  other  of  their  neigh¬ 
bors.  They  are  favored  by  the  sultan  and  have  his 
confidence.  He  says  that  he  was  never  injured  by  a 
Jew,  but  is  not  well  disposed  toward  the  idea  of  Jewish 
colonization.  He  claims  that  he  is,  but  will  not  do 
anything  practical  to  encourage  it.  He  invites  Mr. 
Herzl  to  Constantinople  and  treats  him  with  great  dis¬ 
tinction,  but  never  signs  a  firmin  or  issues  an  order  to 
promote  the  Zionist  movement  or  to  protect  the  Jews 
who  are  already  in  Palestine  against  the  rapacity  of 
his  officials.  No  Jew  can  buy  an  acre  of  land  in  Pales¬ 
tine  to-day.  No  Jew  can  build  a  house  there. 

Furthermore,  the  Jewish  people  in  Palestine  are  not 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  327 


united.  There  is  no  solidarity  among  them.  They 
are  divided  into  bitter  factions,  and  hate  each  other 
more  vigorously  than  they  hate  Christians  or  Moslems. 
One-half  of  them  call  the  other  half  impostors  and 
worse  than  apostates. 

One  of  the  highest  Jewish  authorities  in  Palestine 
told  me  that  at  least  35  per  cent  of  his  religionists  in 
that  country  to-day  are  subsisting  directly  or  indirectly 
upon  charity  and  at  least  20  per  cent  are  absolutely 
dependent  upon  foreign  benevolence.  About  one-half 
of  them  have  sought  there  an  asylum  from  persecu¬ 
tion.  They  have  fled  from  Poland,  Russia  and  Rou- 
mania.  The  remainder  are  aged  and  infirm  persons 
who  seek  a  grave  in  the  sacred  soil.  They  go  there 
to  die.  The  Mount  of  Olives  is  covered  with  ceme¬ 
teries,  and  the  slopes  of  the  hill  upon  which  Jerusalem 
is  built  are  occupied  by  neglected  graves.  Quite  a 
number  of  Jewish  scholars  go  there  to  study.  Others 
are  attracted  by  sentiment  but  the  largest  number 
because  they  know  they  will  be  supported  by  charity. 

Twenty  years  ago  or  more  Baron  Edmond  Roths¬ 
child  of  Paris,  who,  as  a  practical  man,  does  not 
thoroughly  sympathize  with  the  Zionist  movement, 
undertook  at  his  own  expense  to  try  an  extensive 
experiment  to  demonstrate  the  problem.  He  pur¬ 
chased  large  tracts  of  land  in  different  parts  of  Pales¬ 
tine  and  settled  upon  them  some  twenty  or  more 
colonies,  with  about  10,000  Jews  from  Roumania, 
Poland  and  other  parts  of  Europe.  The  experiment 
has  cost  him  at  least  $10,000,000,  and  he  admits  that  it 
is  a  failure.  He  has  abandoned  this  vast  scheme  of 
philanthropy,  transferred  all  of  the  land  and  other 
property  to  the  Jewish  Colonization  Society  of  London, 
and  has  given  it  $10,000,000  more  to  carry  on  the  work. 


328  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  failure  of  the  colonies  is  attributed  both  to  the 
inability  and  the  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  till  the 
soil.  They  can  work  with  their  minds,  but  not  with 
their  muscles,  and  while  there  have  been  exceptions, 
while  many  families  have  gone  earnestly  at  work  to 
earn  their  own  living  and  make  the  movement  a  suc¬ 
cess,  the  great  majority  of  the  beneficiaries  have  been 
indifferent,  indolent,  neglectful  and  mischievous. 
Those  who  have  been  interested  in  watching  the  exper¬ 
iment  differ  in  opinion  as  to  the  extent  and  the 
causes  of  the  failure,  according  to  their  point  of  view. 
Some  contend  that  it  is  the  fault  of  Baron  Rothschild, 
because  he  “pauperized”  his  proteges  from  the  begin¬ 
ning.  He  brought  them  there  at  his  own  expense 
instead  of  compelling  them  to  pay  their  way;  he  built 
villages  of  the  best  and  most  expensive  class  of  houses 
in  Palestine,  which  the  poor  Jews  who  have  lived  in 
tenement  houses  in  the  slums  of  European  cities  could 
not  appreciate;  he  beautified  their  surroundings  in  a 
manner  to  which  they  were  not  accustomed;  he  pro¬ 
vided  them  with  neat  and  artistic  furniture,  luxurious 
beds  and  all  the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  modern 
civilization.  It  was  something  they  could  not  under¬ 
stand.  Then,  as  a  climax,  he  gave  each  individual  over 
twelve  years  of  age  thirty-two  cents  a  day,  thus  ena¬ 
bling  them  to  live  without  working,  which  is  the  easiest 
and  surest  way  to  make  paupers. 

They  remained  in  their  villages  trading  jack-knives 
and  engaging  in  other  petty  mercantile  transactions 
and  theological  disputes,  and  hired  Arabs  to  work  for 
them.  Of  course,  as  long  as  the  munificence  of 
Baron  Rothschild  continued,  they  were  willing  to 
accept  his  generosity.  Hence  they  had  no  incentive 
to  work.  Whereas,  these  critics  say,  if  they  had  been 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  329 


compelled  to  work  for  their  living  from  the  beginning 
under  conditions  to  which  they  were  accustomed  and 
could  appreciate,  they  would  have  succeeded 

The  colonization  society  has  adopted  a  different 
plan.  It  allots  land  to  each  family  in  parcels  large 
enough  to  support  them,  lends  each  farmer  $1,000  or  a 
proportionate  sum,  according  to  his  needs,  for  eight  or 
ten  years  at  a  low  rate  of  interest.  It  makes  him  pay 
for  his  seed,  for  his  implements,  for  his  house  and  for 
all  the  supplies  that  are  advanced  to  him,  and  he  now 
gets  nothing  whatever  unless  he  earns  it.  As  a  conse¬ 
quence  the  colonies  are  disintegrating.  Those  who 
can  raise  the  money  are  going  to  Egypt,  South  Africa, 
Australia,  South  America  and  the  United  States,  and 
the  ungrateful  kickers  are  denouncing  their  benefactors 
in  unmeasured  terms.  The  directors  of  the  coloniza¬ 
tion  society  come  in  for  a  large  share  of  the  abuse,  and 
altogether  the  present  condition  at  the  Jewish  colonies 
is  unhappy. 

Renewing  our  acquaintance  with  the  carriage  used 
by  the  Kaiser  of  Germany  in  his  trip  through  Pales¬ 
tine,  hauled  by  three  horses  harnessed  abreast,  with 
the  faithful  John  at  the  helm,  we  set  out  for  the  Jewish 
colony  of  Sammarin,  twenty  miles  south  of  Haifa, 
which  was  founded  by  Baron  Edmond  Rothschild  of 
Paris  in  1883.  The  twenty  Rothschild  colonies,  situ¬ 
ated  in  various  parts  of  Palestine,  are  under  the  gen¬ 
eral  management  of  Mr.  Schtarknet,  who  was  there 
making  an  inspection,  with  a  committee  from  the  Jew¬ 
ish  Colonization  Society  of  London.  The  local  director 
at  Sammarin  is  a  Mr.  Bescop,  an  intelligent,  progres¬ 
sive,  earnest  man,  zealous  for  the  well-being  of  his 
co-religionists,  but  rather  discouraged  over  his  failure  to 
make  farmers  out  of  men  who  have  neither  the  taste 
nor  the  strength  for  such  work. 


330  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Sammarin  is  reached  by  a  half-day’s  drive  from 
Haifa,  following  the  coast  line  over  a  road  that  was 
built  by  Herod  the  Great  and  repaired  for  the  benefit 
of  the  German  kaiser.  It  is  dotted  on  either  side  with 
ruins  of  the  Herodian  "era,  empty  tombs  and  cisterns, 
blocks  of  marble,  granite  and  other  building  stones, 
fragments  of  pillars  and  cornices,  scattered  here  and 
there  in  the  fields,  with  occasionally  a  wretched  Arab 
village  wherever  there  is  a  spring.  Upon  the  coast  of 
the  sea,  about  halfway  down  is  a  large  building  which 
was  erected  by  Baron  Rothschild  for  a  glass  factory  to 
utilize  the  labor  of  colonists  who  would  not  work  on 
the  farms,  and  the  vitreous  sand  which  lies  along  the 
beach,  but  it  was  a  poor  business  proposition  and  did 
not  succeed.  There  is  very  little  demand  for  glass  in 
Palestine.  The  native  cabins  have  no  windows,  and  in 
the  cities  and  towns  the  outside  walls  are  blank  and 
the  rooms  open  upon  an  inner  court,  so  that  glass  is 
not  always  necessary.  There  was  no  other  market  for 
the  product  of  the  factory  without  paying  excessive 
freight  to  Europe,  so  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

We  passed  through  a  succession  of  well-tilled  farms 
and  growing  vineyards,  which  show  that  somebody 
about  the  the  Jewish  colony  has  industry  and  skill  in 
agriculture,  and  that  there  are  exceptions  to  the  rule. 
We  climbed  a  long,  stony  hill  to  the  top  of  a  high 
plateau,  passing  an  immense  wine  factory,  where  the 
grapes  from  the  vineyards  of  the  colony  are  crushed 
and  produce  about  150,000  gallons  of  wine  a  year, 
which  is  shipped  to  Egypt  and  Germany;  then  entered 
the  best  looking  town  I  have  ever  seen  in  Palestine, 
excepting  the  German  colony  at  Haifa.  It  looks  like 
a  factory  town,  only  the  houses  are  more  substantial 
than  those  usually  built  for  workingmen.  Their  walls 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  331 


are  of  white  stone,  neatly  cut  and  dressed,  and  their 
roofs  of  red  tiles.  The  houses  are  double,  with  accom¬ 
modations  for  two  families,  and  are  detached  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  fences  and  kitchen  gardens.  A  few  of  the 
gardens  were  neatly  kept.  The  most  of  them  were 
running  to  weeds  and  showed  long  neglect.  The  com¬ 
pany’s  building,  which  stands  in  the  center  of  the 
town,  is  a  large  and  imposing  structure,  there  is  an 
assembly  hall,  a  synagogue  of  some  architectural  pre¬ 
tensions,  two  school-houses,  a  market  and  a  company’s 
store,  like  those  you  see  in  manufacturing  towns  or  in 
the  mining  regions  of  the  West,  with  a  miscellaneous 
stock  of  goods,  including  everything  from  agricultural 
implements  to  flea  powder;  and  the  latter  is  an  urgent 
necessity.  As  we  drove  into  town  in  the  twilight  the 
streets  were  filled  with  men  and  women,  promenading, 
standing  around  in  groups,  gossiping  with  each  other, 
while  the  children  were  screaming  at  their  games. 

The  hotel  was  a  most  uninviting  place.  The  build¬ 
ing  was  substantial  and  even  expensive,  and  of  attrac¬ 
tive  design,  but  the  interior  was  repulsive,  and  was 
filled  with  a  lot  of  loafers.  One  of  them,  who  talked 
English,  told  me  that  he  had  recently  come  from  Aus¬ 
tralia  and  would  be  glad  if  I  could  refer  him  to  some 
one  who  would  assist  him  to  reach  the  United  States. 
The  rooms  were  good  and  the  beds  were  originally 
comfortable,  but  we  had  them  made  over  under  our 
own  eyes,  and  as  the  dining-room  was  not  very  appe¬ 
tizing  and  was  crowded  by  the  curious,  we  persuaded 
the  landlord  by  a  judicious  use  of  baksheesh  to  let  us 
have  our  supper  in  the  parlor,  which,  compared  with 
the  rest  of  the  house,  was  a  clean  and  palatial  apart¬ 
ment. 

After  having  examined  the  culinary  department  we 
concluded  to  provide  our  own  supper  and  started  out 


332  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


into  the  town  to  skirmish  for  supplies.  We  got  some 
good  potatoes  and  eggs,  which  we  boiled  with  the 
skins  and  shells  on  so  that  they  could  not  be  polluted, 
sardines,  excellent  canned  German  asparagus,  figs, 
cheese  and  a  box  of  Albert  biscuits  which  evidently 
had  been  bequeathed  by  the  ancestors  of  the  pres¬ 
ent  storekeeper,  and  were  considerably  shelf  worn. 
As  we  carry  our  own  tea  outfit,  and  the  landlord  fur¬ 
nished  plates,  cups,  knives,  forks,  spoons,  salt  and 
pepper,  we  fared  well.  It  was  one  of  the  best  meals 
we  had  in  Palestine,  and  we  knew  that  it  was 
clean. 

The  appearance  of  things  at  Sammarin  suggests  that 
Baron  Rothschild  overdid  himself  and  pampered  his 
colonists  too  much.  The  houses  are  too  fine  for  such 
a  purpose.  They  are  not  suitable  for  farmers  and  are 
so  much  better  than  anything  in  the  villages  around  as 
to  furnish  a  disagreeable  contrast.  The  colonists  are 
generally  discontented.  Some  who  could  scrape 
together  sufficient  money  have  gone  away,  and  quite  a 
number  of  the  houses  are  empty.  Others  who  still 
remain,  unable  to  secure  funds  to  pay  their  passage 
to  any  other  place,  are  occupying  their  time  abusing 
the  management,  while  all  of  them  are  opposed  to  the 
Zionist  movement,  of  which  they  are  a  part,  because 
they  say  there  are  too  many  Jews  in  Palestine  already. 

From  the  heights  of  Sammarin  the  plain  of  Sharon 
stretches  out  from  the  sea  to  the  mountains  of  Samaria 
in  one  direction  and  to  those  of  Judea  in  the  other.  It 
is  beautiful,  diversified  and  broken  by  little  ridges 
upon  which  the.  villages  of  the  farmers  stand,  and  way 
up  toward  the  top  of  several  rocky  peaks  we  could  see 
groups  of  white  cabins  nestling  against  the  cliffs. 
We  did  not  find  any  lilies  of  the  valley,  but  the  rose  of 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  333 


Sharon  climbs  over  the  dead  walls  and  rocks.  It  is 
the  ordinary  single  four-petal  pink  rose  that  we  are 
accustomed  to,  and  is  generally  called  a  sweetbrier. 

Although  the  road  was  repaired  for  the  German 
emperor  in  1898,  it  has  been  neglected  since,  and 
bridges  built  only  five  years  ago  are  so  badly  dilapi¬ 
dated  that  our  driver  had  to  take  wide  circuits  to 
avoid  them.  They  actually  make  the  roads  worse 
instead  of  better,  and  the  sand  is  so  heavy  for  most  of 
the  distance  that  we  had  to  alight  to  relieve  the 
horses,  and  were  compelled  to  walk  a  considerable 
part  of  the  distance  to  Jaffa,  like  the  boy  who  wanted 
to  work  his  passage  on  a  canal  boat  and  was  allowed 
to  drive  the  team.  It  is  a  curious  phenomenon  that 
the  sandy  beach  is  gradually  encroaching  upon  the 
cultivated  area.  The  sea  is  wearing  away  the  under¬ 
lying  rock,  and  the  new-made  sand,  with  that  washed 
up  from  the  bottom  of  the  Mediterranean,  is  driven 
farther  and  farther  inland  every  year,  so  that  if  the 
process  goes  on  long  enough  the  entire  plain  of  Sharon 
will  be  buried  under  a  slowly  creeping  desert.  When 
the  brooks  which  cross  the  plain  run  dry  in  the  sum¬ 
mer  the  sand  dams  up  their  mouths  so  that  when  the 
rainy  season  comes  they  flood  the  country  and  form 
marshes,  which  become  permanent,  and  they  are  also 
encroaching  gradually  upon  the  fields. 

Three  hours  from  Sammarin  we  came  to  the  famous 
City  of  Caesarea,  erected  by  Herod  the  Great,  with 
magnificent  palaces,  fortresses,  temples  and  other  pub¬ 
lic  buildings,  which  became  the  most  popular  of  all  the 
cities  in  Palestine  and  its  most  important  port  during 
the  Roman  occupation.  It  does  not  speak  well  for 
Herod’s  judgment  as  a  town  site  locater,  for  it  stands 
upon  the  open  coast  without  a  harbor  or  protection  of 


334  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


any  kind.  Several  ledges  run  out  from  the  shore  into 
the  sea,  and  Herod  took  advantage  of  two  of  them  to 
construct  a  harbor,  the  remains  of  which  are  still 
apparent,  but  it  was  not  large  enough  to  protect  a 
single  steamer  of  the  present  day.  The  moles  were 
only  250  yards  long  and  about  150  yards  apart.  Herod 
christened  them  with  great  ceremony,  and  named  them 
Propymatia — wave  breakers. 

Large  blocks  of  granite  are  still  to  be  seen  under  the 
water,  and  the  ruins  of  a  medieval  castle  are  still 
quite  imposing,  although  they  are  crumbling  rapidly 
and  growing  less  conspicuous  every  year.  The  walls 
of  the  city  described  a  rectangle.  They  were  eight 
feet  thick,  with  towers  at  intervals  of  thirty  yards,  and 
were  inclosed  by  a  moat  lined  with  masonry  and  about 
forty  feet  wide,  all  of  which  is  still  apparent,  as  are  the 
ruins  of  a  temple  which  Herod  erected  for  the  worship  of 
Augustus  Caesar.  About  twenty  years  ago  a  colony  of 
Bosnians  settled  among  the  ruins,  and,  being  men  of 
energy  and  enterprise,  have  used  them  as  a  quarry, 
and  have  cut  out  immense  quantities  of  building  mate¬ 
rial,  which  they  have  shipped  on  little  steamers  to  the 
towns  up  and  down  the  coast. 

At  the  height  of  it  greatness  Caesarea  is  believed  to 
have  had  300,000  population,  and  judging  by  present 
appearances,  the  estimate  is  well  based,  for  the  citadel 
covers  an  area  of  370  acres,  the  amphitheater  accom¬ 
modated  20,000  spectators,  and  there  are  remains  of 
two  aqueducts  which  brought  from  the  mountains 
sufficient  water  to  supply  a  large  population.  Paul, 
the  apostle,  visited  Caesarea  several  times,  and  was 
held  a  prisoner  there  for  two  years,  during  that  time 
making  some  of  his  ablest  speeches  before  Felix, 
Festus,  Agrippa  and  other  Roman  officials. 


JEWISH  COLONIES  IN  PALESTINE  335 


Caesarea  was  also  the  residence  of  the  pious  Corne¬ 
lius,  who  fasted,  prayed  and  gave  alms  until  an  angel 
from  the  Lord  appeared  and  advised  him  to  send  to 
Jaffa  for  “Simon,  whose  surname  is  Peter.”  At 
Caesarea  began  the  war  which  ruined  the  Jewish 
nation  and  ended  with  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 
By  erecting  heathen  temples  and  theaters  the  Roman 
authorities  enraged  the  Jews,  who,  exasperated, 
became  violent  and  revolted.  As  a  penalty  20,000 
Jewish  citizens  of  Caesarea  were  massacred,  whereupon 
the  entire  nation  joined  in  a  rebellion  which  devas¬ 
tated  the  entire  country  and  left  them  little  but  their 
traditions  and  their  name. 

A  few  miles  south  of  Caesarea  is  another  Jewish 
philanthropic  colony  called  Sira,  and  a  little  farther 
away  a  third,  called  Nechbara.  Both  are  almost  dupli¬ 
cates  of  Sammarin,  with  the  same  neat,  substantial 
houses,  with  red-tiled  roofs  and  gardens,  and  both 
have  suffered  the  same  failure,  because  of  the  inability 
of  the  colonists  to  become  agriculturists.  Their  farms, 
however,  so  far  as  they  go,  are  well  kept  and  appar¬ 
ently  productive,  and  it  would  seem  as  if  anything 
would  grow  upon  the  Plain  of  Sharon,  which  has  been 
famous  for  its  fertility  since  the  days  of  Isaiah.  The 
soil  is  several  feet  deep  in  the  lowlands,  water  is 
found  everywhere  by  digging,  and  the  slopes  of  the 
ridges  and  little  hills  that  arise  here  and  there  upon 
the  plain  are  covered  with  the  richest  of  forage. 

Arabs  were  plowing  with  teams  of  little  black  steers, 
and  were  working  in  the  fields,  as  you  have  seen  them 
in  the  pictures  in  the  big  illustrated  Bibles.  Occasion¬ 
ally  we  passed  a  group  of  Bedouin  tents  with  flat  tops 
and  walls  woven  of  camel’s  hair,  and  a  horseman  met 
us  now  and  then,  heavily  armed.  The  road  used  to  be 


336  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

dangerous.  Travelers  were  killed  and  robbed  by 
Bedouins,  and  escorts  were  necessary,  but  now  the 
road  is  perfectly  safe.  We  saw  the  little  village  of 
Elmacka,  one  of  the  seven  places  where  Samson  was 
born,  and  took  our  luncheon  at  a  table  in  the  open  air 
beside  a  mill  which  is  conducted  by  a  Russian  miller 
from  near  Odessa,  whose  wife  complains  of  lonesome¬ 
ness. 

Just  beyond  this  mill,  between  it  and  Jaffa,  was  the 
scene  of  a  great  battle  between  the  Crusaders  under 
Richard  Cceur  de  Lion  and  the  Saracens  under  Sala- 
din,  which  began  Sept.  7,  1191,  and  continued  for 
six  days,  with  terrible  loss  of  life  on  both  sides. 
Many  of  the  Crusaders,  not  being  accustomed  to 
the  climate,  perished  from  thirst  and  heat.  Caesa¬ 
rea  was  the  scene  of  many  exciting  incidents  during 
the  crusade,  and  it  was  there  that  the  Knights  of  the 
Round  Table  finally  discovered  the  Holy  Grail — the 
sacred  cup  used  by  Christ  and  His  disciples  at  the  last 
supper. 


XVIII 

From  Jaffa  to  Jerusalem 


337 


THE  HOUSE  OF  SIMON  THE  TANNER 


XVIII 

FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 

Jaffa  is  a  queer  old  place,  full  of  legends  and  bad 
smells,  surrounded  by  the  most  beautiful  orange 
groves  in  Palestine  and  associated  with  some  of  the 
most  interesting  events  in  the  world’s  history.  Jaffa  is 
the  port  from  which  Jonah  started  upon  his  memorable 
voyage  when  he  was  swallowed  by  the  whale.  It  vas 
here,  according  to  the  ancient  myth,  that  Andromeda, 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  yEolus,  was  chained  to  the 
rocks  in  order  that  she  might  be  devoured  by  a  huge 
sea  monster,  but  was  rescued  by  Perseus;  here  Peter 
raised  from  the  dead  Tabitha,  “which  by  interpretation 
is  called  Dorcas,”  a  “woman  full  of  good  work*’;  and 
alms  deeds  which  she  did.”  Here  Peter  “tarried  many 
days  with  one  Simon,  a  tanner,  and  went  upon  his 
housetop  to  pray  about  the  sixth  hour,”  and  he  was 
very  hungry.  While  Simon’s  folks  were  fixing  him 
some  lunch  he  fell  into  a  trance,  “and  saw  the  heavens 
opened  and  a  certain  vessel  descending  unto  hi  n,  as  it 
had  been  a  great  sheet,  knit  at  the  four  corners  and  let 
down  to  the  earth,  wherein  were  all  manner  of  four- 
footed  beasts  of  the  earth,  wild  beasts  and  creeping 
things  and  fowls  of  the  air.”  While  this  was  going  on 
three  men  rapped  at  the  door  and  asked  whether 
Simon,  whose  surname  was  Peter,  lodged  there.  You 
will  remember  the  rest  of  the  story,  for  it  was  the 
beginning  of  Peter’s  missionary  work,  which  is 
recorded  in  detail  in  the  Book  of  Acts.  He  was  an 
active  itinerant  missionary. 


339 


340  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

And  as  if  all  this  were  not  enough  for  one  place,  Jaffa 
has  one  lighthouse,  one  railway  station,  four  different 
postoffices,  maintained  by  the  Austrian,  French  and 
Russian  governments,  in  addition  to  the  Turkish  office, 
because  foreigners  dare  not  trust  their  letters  to  the 
regular  mails,  seven  consuls,  three  doctors,  five 
mosques,  three  churches,  three  monasteries,  four  ceme¬ 
teries,  two  hospitals,  an  old  fort,  innumerable  cafes,  a 
mission  to  the  Jews  with  two  converts,  who  are  the 
most  remarkable  curiosities  in  the  town;  several  soap 
factories  and  four  hotels.  At  one  of  the  hotels,  which 
is  kept  by  the  American  consular  agent,  travelers  are 
offered  “evangelical  cleanliness”  and  “Biblical  com¬ 
fort,”  and  the  proprietor,  a  German  Lutheran  whose 
name  is  Hardegg,  has  adopted  a  choice  specimen  of 
“hen  fruit”  for  his  coat  of  arms  with  the  motto,  “Eat, 
eat,  oh!  friends;  drink;  yea,  drink;  drink  abundantly, 
oh!  beloved,”  and  this  is  no  idle  invitation,  for  Mr. 
Hardegg  puts  up  a  first-class  meal  cooked  in  the  Ger¬ 
man  style,  and  there  is  always  plenty  of  it.  The  gar¬ 
den  bears  fresh  vegetables  all  the  year  around.  The 
hotel  is  as  clean  and  comfortable  as  any  in  Dresden  or 
Nuremburg,  with  a  homelike  air,  and,  in  addition  to 
the  ordinary  bill  of  fare,  Mr.  Hardegg  supplies  each 
guest  with  a  “case  of  gospel  pills,”  which  promote 
health  and  happiness,  aid  digestion,  cure  sleeplessness 
and  stimulate  both  the  body  and  the  soul.  His  gospel 
pills  are  in  the  form  of  a  handsomely  printed  little 
book  containing  texts  from  the  Scriptures  applicable 
to  daily  life.  Instead  of  numbering  his  rooms,  Mr. 
Hardegg  has  named  them  after  the  sons  of  Israel  and 
other  Old  Testament  characters,  and  there  it  is  actually 
possible  for  a  guest  to  sleep  in  Abraham’s  bosom  or 
use  Joshua  for  a  sitting-room.  , 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


Jaffa  is  a  city  of  the  most  ancient  type,  and  the 
primitive  customs  of  the  patriarchal  age  and  the  most 
modern  improvements  are  brought  together  there  in 
striking  contrast.  At  the  market  place  one  can  see 
the  genuine  East,  a  combination  of  Oriental  features 
and  colors,  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  with  a  crowd  of 
people  chattering  at  each  other  in  all  the  languages  of 
Asia  Minor.  Country  peasants,  foreign  pilgrims, 
Bedouins,  Arabs,  Syrians,  Egyptians,  Turks  and  Jews, 
mixed  up  with  camels,  mules,  donkeys,  goats,  buffa¬ 
loes,  cows,  oxen,  dogs,  parrots,  ducks,  geese,  hens 
and  chickens,  all  talking  or  screaming  or  braying  at 
the  same  time,  each  trying  to  attract  attention  to  him¬ 
self  or  the  wares  he  has  for  sale.  Every  product  of 
that  semi-tropical  region;  every  fabric  made  by  Ori¬ 
ental  hands,  luscious  fruits  from  the  orchards  in  the 
neighborhood,  lemons,  oranges,  pomegranates,  quinces, 
apples,  apricots,  strawberries,  every  variety  of  vege¬ 
tables,  and  cheese,  poultry  and  eggs,  figs  and  olives, 
olive  oil  in  pigskin  bottles,  and  petroleum  in  tin  cans; 
meat  of  all  kinds,  dried  fish,  everything  that  anybody 
wants  or  that  can  be  produced  or  procured  in  that 
country,  is  spread  out  upon  the  ground,  either  with  an 
old  woman  or  a  young  one  trying  to  persuade  people 
to  buy,  and  screaming  at  them  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 

It  is  a  novel  and  interesting  sight.  The  outdoor 
market  of  Jaffa  furnishes  as  fascinating  a  picture  as  an 
artist  can  find  anywhere  in  the  East.  Jaffa  is  famous 
for  her  gardens.  They  extend  around  the  city  in  a 
belt  about  seven  miles  long  and  a  mile  and  a  half 
wide,  produce  two  or  three  crops  a  year,  and  have  been 
producing  since  shortly  after  Noah’s  ark  landed  on 
Ararat.  Indeed,  one  of  the  legends  is  that  Jaffa  was 
not  destroyed  like  the  rest  of  the  world  or  even  injured 


342  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


by  the  flood.  I  cannot  quite  make  out  how  it  escaped, 
but  plenty  of  old  Moslem  moulahs  will  explain  the 
phenomenon  if  you  will  go  over  there  and  listen  to 
them.  The  soil  seems  to  be  inexhaustible,  and  an 
artesian  basin  under  the  city  is  a  never-failing  supply 
of  water,  which  is  pumped  by  curious  old  wheels  into 
distributing  reservoirs  for  irrigating  purposes. 

The  list  of  modern  fruits  is  very  much  longer  than 
that  of  the  Bible.  Many  delicious  fruits,  berries,  nuts 
and  vegetables  raised  there  nowadays  were  unknown  to 
the  ancients  and  have  been  introduced  from  foreign 
lands. 

The  best  fruits  and  garden  truck  come  from  the  Ger¬ 
man  colony  of  Sarona,  which  is  located  on  the  out¬ 
skirts  of  Jaffa,  and  almost  buried  in  the  wilderness  of 
fruit  trees  and  berry  bushes.  The  colonists  are  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  Temple  Society,  the  same  organization  that 
established  the  colony  I  wrote  about  at  Haifa.  The 
American  members  come  mostly  from  Buffalo  and 
Schenectady,  but  the  great  majority  are  from  Wurtem- 
burg.  They  have  been  wonderfully  successful  in 
everything  they  have  undertaken  and  are  entitled  to  all 
the  prosperity  they  enjoy,  for  there,  in  one  of  the  old¬ 
est  groups  of  human  habitations  and  in  one  of  the  most 
depraved  of  all  communities,  they  are  furnishing  a 
permanent  example  of  industry,  sobriety,  good  morals 
and  honorable  business  methods, — an  example  that  can¬ 
not  be  lost  or  wasted. 

Jaffa  may  have  survived  the  flood,  but  it  has  been 
destroyed  utterly  and  many  times  by  Jews,  Greeks, 
Romans,  Assyrians,  Egyptians  and  Turks  from  the 
days  of  the  Pharaohs  to  those  of  Louis  Napoleon  of 
France.  Pompey,  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion,  Alexander 
the  Great,  Saladin,  Rameses  II.  and  Napoleon  Bona- 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM  343 


parte  have  besieged  and  defended  it  alternately,  and 
not  far  away  is  the  old  home  of  Samson,  who,  you 
may  remember,  was  a  good  deal  of  a  fighter  himself. 

Jaffa  has  prospered  in  modern  times  as  much  as  any 
city  in  Palestine,  which  is  largely  due  to  the  railway 
connecting  it  with  Jerusalem  and  making  it  profit¬ 
able  to  ship  produce  through  its  merchants.  It  has 
now  about  40,000  inhabitants,  of  whom  at  least  25,000 
are  Mohammedans  and  8,000  are  Jews.  Its  imports 
and  exports  roll  up  into  the  millions,  and  it  /night  do 
a  much  larger  business  if  it  had  a  harbor,  but  there  are 
no  docks,  quays  or  jetties,  and  the  landing  is  the  most 
dangerous  on  the  coast.  A  few  hundred  feet  from  the 
shore  is  a  ledge  of  rocks  which  here  and  there  crop  up 
out  of  the  water  when  it  is  calm,  but  are  entirely  sub¬ 
merged  whenever  there  is  a  heavy  sea.  Between  them 
at  two  or  three  places  are  narrow  gaps  only  a  few  feet 
wide  and  a  few  feet  deep,  which  furnish  a  very  uncer¬ 
tain  passage  for  boats  of  light  draft  to  get  through,  but 
the  men  who  steer  them  have  to  be  extremely  careful 
not  to  sail  too  far  on  one  side  or  the  other  or  they 
will  bump  against  the  sharp  ledges  and  rip  open  the 
sides  of  their  boats.  When  there  is  wind  enough  to 
blow  up  the  slightest  commotion  these  perilous  pas¬ 
sages  cannot  be  used,  and,  as  no  one  can  enter  or  leave 
the  town  by  water  without  passing  through  them,  Jaffa 
is  in  a  state  of  blockade  a  good  portion  of  the  time, 
and  its  shipping  business  is  limited  to  perfectly  calm 
weather. 

At  all  times  steamers  which  visit  the  port  are  com¬ 
pelled  to  anchor  a  good  ways  out,  a  safe  distance  from 
the  reef,  and  the  Arab  boatmen,  who  are  very  skillful 
and  nervy,  carry  passengers  and  freight  back  and  forth 
in  boats  and  barges.  If  the  captain  of  a  steamer  finds 


344  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


upon  arrival  that  it  is  too  rough  to  land  he  does  not 
drop  his  anchor,  but  continues  his  voyage  to  Port  Said 
in  one  direction  or  to  Beirut  in  the  other,  carrying  his 
Jaffa  passengers  and  freight  with  him,  and  then  brings 
them  back  the  first  pleasant  day;  but  sometimes  pas¬ 
sengers  are  kept  out  for  weeks  because  the  wind  and 
the  waves  will  not  subside  sufficiently  to  let  them  land. 
If  the  sultan  would  sell  a  few  of  the  jewels  that  are 
hidden  in  the  treasury  of  Seraglio  Point  at  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  build  a  breakwater  and  blow  out  this  ledge 
with  dynamite  it  would  be  a  great  thing  for  the 
country. 

But  there  used  to  be  other  dangers  and  difficulties  in 
Jaffa  in  ancient  times.  A  pious  monk  named  Father 
Fabri,  who  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem  by  way  of 
Jaffa  in  the  fifteenth  century,  tells  of  a  fish  called  the 
troyp,  which  haunted  this  part  of  the  coast,  “with  a 
beak  fashioned  like  an  auger,  and  unless  he  be  driven 
away  from  the  ship  he  bores  through  it.  He  cannot 
be  forced  away  from  the  ship  save  by  a  fearless  look, 
so  that  one  should  lean  out  of  the  ship  over  the  water 
and  unflinchingly  look  at  him  with  a  terrible  gaze.  If 
he  who  looks  at  the  fish  grows  terrified  and  begins  to 
turn  his  eyes  away  the  beast  straightway  rises,  snatches 
him  down  into  the  water  and  devours  him,  and  then 
destroys  the  ship.”  Fortunately  for  American  tourists 
these  terrible  monsters  are  all  gone,  and,  as  you 
know,  Perseus  here  slew  the  dragon  that  was  going  to 
eat  up  the  beautiful  Andromeda.  The  rock  to  which 
Andromeda  was  chained  may  still  be  seen  as  confirma¬ 
tion  of  the  story,  but  some  of  the  particulars  furnished 
by  early  writers  are  a  little  confusing.  Pliny,  the 
famous  naturalist  of  imperial  times,  declares  that  the 
legend  of  Andromeda  was  confirmed  by  the  bones  of  a 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


wild  beast  which  were  brought  to  Rome  from  Jaffa. 
The  length  of  the  bones  was  forty  feet,  the  ribs  were 
larger  than  those  of  an  Indian  elephant  and  the  thick-  . 
ness  of  the  skin  was  a  foot  and  a  half.  This,  however, 
may  have  been  the  same  beast  that  swallowed  Jonah. 

Sir  John  Mandeville,  writing  in  1322,  declares  that 
“Joppo  (Jaffa)  is  one  of  the  oldest  towns  of  the  world, 
for  it  was  founded  before  Noah’s  flood.  And  there 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  rock  there  the  place  where 
iron  chains  were  fastened  wherewith  Andromeda,  a 
great  giant,  was  bound  and  put  in  prison  before  Noah’s 
flood,  a  rib  of  whose  side,  which  is  forty  feet  long,  is 
still  shown.” 

Father  Fabri,  the  same  who  wrote  about  the  fearful 
fish,  has  something  to  say  on  this  point  also.  He  states 
that  “the  bones  of  that  sea  monster  which  Perseus 
slew  were  of  vast  size  and  are  publicly  on  the  beach 
over  against  the  city.  Some  declare  that  these  were 
the  bones  of  the  virgin  giantess  Andromeda,  which 
seems  impossible,  because  Perseus  took  Andromeda 
away  with  him  into  Persia  and  ended  his  days  there, 
and  we  nowhere  read  of  him  coming  back  to  Jaffa.” 
So  you  see  that  the  reports  of  this  interesting  affair 
are  somewhat  confusing,  although  any  one  who  reads 
them  must  become  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  story 
and  congratulate  Perseus  upon  rescuing  a  young  lady 
with  ribs  forty  feet  long. 

The  location  of  the  house  of  Simon  the  tanner, 
where  Peter  “tarried  many  days,”  has  been  changed 
recently,  and  greatly  to  the  convenience  of  tourists 
and  pilgrims,  who  visit  it  in  large  numbers.  It  was 
formerly  back  in  the  fields  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
city,  and  could  be  reached  only  by  a  long  walk  or 
drive,  but  is  now  very  near  the  landing  place,  so  that 


346  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


pilgrims  can  stop  and  climb  to  the  roof  where  Peter 
saw  that  remarkable  vision,  pay  their  baksheesh  to 
the  owner  and  pass  on  to  the  railway  station  without 
losing  any  time.  It  is  one  of  the  most  ridiculous 
humbugs  in  the  Holy  Land. 

The  tomb  of  Tabitha,  however,  is  in  a  most  attrac¬ 
tive  place  in  the  garden  of  the  monastery  of  the  Greek 
monks  and  surrounded  by  beautiful  palm  groves,  fruit 
orchards  and  gardens  of  flowers. 

From  the  roof  of  the  hotel  you  can  see  Lydda,  or 
Lud,  the  town  in  which  St.  George,  the  patron  saint  of 
England,  was  born,  and  about  which  Richard  of  the 
Lion  Heart  pitched  his  tents  so  long  during  the  cru¬ 
sade;  Ramleh,  a  beautiful  old  town,  where  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  lived;  Modin,  the  princely  seat  of  Simon 
Maccabeus;  Askalon,  in  which  Herod  the  Great  was 
born;  Ashdod,  one  of  the  fortified  seats  of  the  Philis¬ 
tines,  and  Gaza,  the  home  of  Samson  and  the  site  of 
the  temple  of  Dagon,  which  he  pulled  down.  Among 
the  hills  and  plains  that  surround  Jaffa  Samson  per¬ 
formed  his  remarkable  exploits,  David  fought  with  the 
giant  Goliath,  and  many  other  of  the  most  stirring 
incidents  related  in  the  early  part  of  the  Old  Testa¬ 
ment  occurred.  The  landscape  is  a  wide  stretch  of 
wheat  fields,  broken  by  many  hills,  and  behind  them 
in  the  extreme  background  is  a  range  of  blue,  misty 
mountains  which  separate  the  Plain  of  Sharon  from  the 
holy  city  of  Jerusalem.  Here  and  there  are  groups  of 
mud  houses,  clusters  of  black  Bedouin  tents  and  ruins 
which  were  the  theater  of  the  earliest  activity  of 
human  kind,  but  many  of  them  cannot  even  be  identi¬ 
fied.  They  and  the  people  who  lived  in  them  have 
passed  through  the  mist  into  oblivion,  leaving  nothing 
behind  them  but  graves,  which  contain  ashes  of  a  hun- 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM  347 

dred  generations  of  men,  —  Canaanites,  Egyptians, 
Phoenicians,  Ishmaelites,  Hebrews,  Macedonians, 
Romans,  Greeks,  Saracens,  Franks,  Arabs  and  Turks. 

These  rich  fields  were  the  source  of  the  power  and 
the  wealth  of  the  Philistines,  and  Israel  fought  for 
them.  They  extend  from  the  sandy  beach  of  the 
Mediterranean  to  the  rocky  wall  of  the  hills  of  Judea, 
and  in  ancient  times  were  called  “Little  Egypt” 
because  they  produced  as  lavishly  as  the  valley  of  the 
Nile.  The  five  great  cities  of  the  Philistines  guarded 
this  plain,  furnished  the  market  for  its  farmers  and  the 
consumers  for  its  produce,  but  none  of  them,  except¬ 
ing  Gaza,  has  survived  the  centuries.  Gath,  the  home 
of  the  giants,  has  entirely  disappeared.  It  was  totally 
destroyed  about  750  years  before  Christ,  and  was 
never  rebuilt.  Its  location  is  a  matter  of  dispute. 
Ascalon  was  the  seat  of  the  worship  of  Venus,  and, 
although  her  temple  was  destroyed  many  centuries 
ago,  its  ruins  still  lie  upon  a  picturesque  eminence, 
and  large  flocks  of  the  posterity  of  the  sacred  doves 
consecrated  to  her  are  still  cooing  about  the  luxuriant 
gardens  that  lie  within  the  crumbling  walls.  Ascalon 
is  celebrated  for  the  extreme  beauty  and  profusion  of 
the  gardens  that  surround  its  site,  and  the  oranges 
grown  there  are  said  to  be  even  better  than  those  of 
Jaffa. 

Ashdod  was  the  site  of  a  splendid  temple  to  Dagon, 
rivaling  that  at  Gaza,  which  Samson  pulled  down.  At 
a  little  village  called  Beit-Dajan,  near  Jaffa,  there  is  a 
“house  of  Dagon”  still  standing,  whose  origin  dates 
back  to  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era,  although  its 
exact  age  is  unknown. 

Gaza,  or  Ghuzzeh,  as  the  modern  Arabs  call  it,  is 
one  of  the  oldest  and,  at  the  same  time,  one  of  the 


348  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


most  progressive  and  flourishing  towns  in  Palestine, 
and  now  the  largest  city  upon  its  coast.  It  stood  there 
before  Abraham  saw  the  land  of  promise,  and  has 
been  fought  over  by  every  force  that  has  invaded 
Judea  since  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs,  because  it  has 
been  the  door  to  Africa,  the  gateway  to  Asia,  an  oasis 
of  great  fertility  upon  the  edge  of  a  desert,  the  source 
of  supply  for  avast  population  of  Bedouins  for  at  least 
five  thousand  years.  It  is  the  chief  trading  point  for 
the  population  within  a  radius  of  a  hundred  miles,  who 
come  to  its  bazaars  for  their  cloth,  weapons,  pottery 
and  food.  It  is  the  starting  place  for  the  caravans  to 
Egypt.  They  are  organized  there,  and  all  roads  from 
the  south  lead  to  Gaza.  It  is  as  important  to  the  com¬ 
merce  of  that  part  of  the  country  as  Damascus  is  to 
northern  Syria,  and  occupies  a  similar  position  in  rela¬ 
tion  to  the  deserts  that  surround  both.  Gaza  is  eight 
days’  march  from  the  Nile  and  about  three  days  by 
camel  from  Jerusalem.  The  Pharaohs  and  Ptolemys 
fought  for  it  against  the  Emperors  of  Assyria  and 
Persia  for  that  reason.  Bonaparte  considered  it  a 
great  strategic  point,  and  during  the  crusades  it  was 
drenched  with  blood  again  and  again. 

Yet,  with  a  tenacity  similar  to  that  of  Damascus, 
and  for  the  same  reason,  Gaza  has  clung  to  life, 
although  it  has  suffered  numberless  sieges,  has  been 
sacked  forty  times,  has  been  burned  down  and  blown 
up  with  explosives  and  at  least  twice  its  population  has 
been  almost  exterminated.  In  the  second  and  third 
centuries  it  was  an  opulent  and  splendid  city,  a  pros¬ 
perous  center  of  commerce  and  one  of  the  highest 
examples  of  Greek  culture  and  architecture  on  the 
Mediterranean.  Its  schools  of  philosophy  and  rhetoric 
drew  students  from  all  the  civilized  world.  The  tern- 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


pies  of  Gaza  were  famous.  The  entire  Greek  pantheon 
was  adopted  by  the  Philistines  when  Dagon,  the  fish 
god,  was  overthrown,  but  after  the  crusade  Gaza 
became  Moslem  and  has  remained  so  ever  since. 

There  are  now  about  40,000  inhabitants,  almost 
exclusively  Moslems.  The  Jewish  population  does 
not  number  more  than  100,  nor  the  Greeks  more  than 
500.  There  is  a  Roman  Catholic  mission  with  a  few 
monks,  but  no  converts,  and  a  mission  of  the  Church 
of  England,  which  sustains  a  hospital  and  a  school. 
The  bazaars  are  extremely  interesting,  and  are  stocked 
with  every  class  of  goods,  European  and  Oriental,  but 
the  town  is  as  filthy  as  any  in  Palestine,  and,  being 
without  sewers  or  proper  drains,  is  extremely  unhealth¬ 
ful.  Owing  to  the  proximity  of  the  desert  and  the 
reflection  of  the  sun  upon  the  sand,  the  inhabitants 
suffer  generally  from  ophthalmia,  and  the  English 
missionaries  have  established  a  free  hospital  for  the 
treatment  of  that  disease. 

There  is  a  fine  mosque,  formerly  a  Christian  church, 
and  tradition  ascribes  its  erection  to  the  Empress 
Helena,  who,  it  is  said,  dedicated  it  to  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  the  story.  The 
Emperor  Baldwin  I  of  Jerusalem,  who  died  there  in 
1 1 18,  was  buried  in  one  of  the  suburban  villages;  an 
ancient  mosque  contains  the  grave  of  Hashim,  Moham¬ 
med’s  grandfather,  and  another  mosque,  which  looks 
very  modern  covers  what  is  said  to  be  the  tomb  of 
Samson. 

Owing  to  the  abundance  of  water  the  vegetation  is 
very  rich  and  the  flowers  and  foliage  are  of  surpassing 
beauty.  The  trees  swarm  with  song  birds  and  the  air  is 
laden  with  their  music.  The  chief  staple  is  soap, 
made  from  olive  oil,  and  shipped  across  the  desert  to 


350  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Cairo.  None  is  shipped  by  sea  because  there  is  a 
superstition  that  salt  air  damages  it,  and  it  is  all  car¬ 
ried  upon  the  backs  of  camels,  which  are  capable  of 
taking  cargoes  of  550  pounds.  Of  late  years  a  good 
deal  of  wheat  has  been  exported  because  the  farms  in 
the  neighborhood  have  been  producing  with  unusual 
abundance  and  the  surplus  of  the  harvests  has  been 
large.  Gaza  is  three  miles  from  the  sea,  and  if  it  had 
a  harbor  and  a  railroad  it  would  be  even  more  important 
as  a  trade  center  than  now. 

An  air  of  age  and  decay,  which  is  noticeable  to 
strangers,  is  said  to  be  due  to  the  stone  of  which  the 
city  is  built.  It  is  saturated  with  saltpeter,  which  gives 
it  a  moldy  color  and  causes  rapid  disintegration.  The 
modern  town  has  neither  walls  nor  gates,  but  the 
guides  point  out  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city  the 
place  where  stood  the  gates  which  Samson  carried  off 
to  the  top  of  a  hill  on  the  trail  to  Hebron.  Near  by  is 
the  prison,  which  stands  on  the  site  of  the  mill  in 
which  he  is  said  to  have  been  confined,  and  the  top  of 
Castle  Hill  is  strewn  with  cut  stone  and  broken  pillars, 
which  are  said  to  have  been  a  part  of  the  vast  Temple 
of  Dagon,  which  he  pulled  down  upon  himself  and 
3,000  of  his  enemies. 

There  is  very  little  of  interest  in  Gaza  except  these 
historic  sites,  most  of  which  are  probably  authentic, 
but  are  not  deemed  of  any  value  either  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  or  the  Greeks.  Nor  do  the  Jews  show  any 
interest  in  them.  Samson  is  neglected. 

This  mighty  man  was  born  at  Zorah,  a  little  village 
on  the  hillside  about  four  hundred  feet  above  the  gen¬ 
eral  level  of  the  plain,  in  a  picturesque  and  healthful 
situation.  In  the  spring  time  it  is  surrounded  by  a 
garden  of  wild  flowers,  daisies,  gladioli,  oleanders, 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM  351 


geraniums  of  all  shades,  lilies  and  roses,  that  grow 
like  weeds.  The  entire  hill  is  almost  hidden  with  the 
lustrous  foliage  of  olive  trees.  Here  “the  child  Sam¬ 
son  grew  up,  and  the  Lord  blessed  him,  and  the  spirit 
of  the  Lord  began  to  move  him,”  and  in  early  man¬ 
hood  he  removed  to  Timnath,  a  similar  village  on  the 
other  side  of  the  hill,  where  he  found  his  first  love,  and 
slew  the  young  lion  whose  carcass  was  a  beehive,  and 
suggested  the  fatal  riddle  which  his  thirty  wedding 
companions  could  not  solve,  and  which  culminated  in 
so  many  tragedies.  It  was  there  that  he  turned  loose  the 
three  hundred  foxes,  or  jackals,  as  the  commentators 
upon  the  Bible  generally  claim,  with  firebrands  tied  to 
their  tails,  and  burned  up  “both  the  shocks  and  the 
standing  corn,  with  the  vineyards  and  the  olives.” 
We  can  understand  just  how  this  was  done,  because  the 
fields  of  wheat  stretch  for  miles  in  every  direction  now, 
as  they  did  in  his  day,  without  even  a  stone  wall  or  a 
hedge  to  divide  them.  The  only  division  lines  are 
footpaths,  and  if  a  lot  of  jackals  with  firebrands 
attached  to  their  tails  were  turned  into  them  to-day 
when  the  crop  was  ready  for  harvest  they  would  burn 
like  tinder  and  the  whole  community  would  be  ruined. 

The  town  of  Lydda,  which  is  only  an  hour’s  drive 
from  Jaffa,  was  the  scene  of  the  martyrdom  of  St. 
George  in  the  year  303.  He  was  a  Roman  soldier  of 
noble  birth,  served  as  a  tribune  under  the  Emperor 
Diocletian,  was  an  early  convert  to  Christianity,  a  lay 
teacher  of  great  fame  among  the  saints,  and  gave  his 
life  for  the  faith.  He  was  buried  at  Lydda.  The 
Empress  Helena  is  said  to  have  erected  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  church  that  stood  over  his  tomb  for  centuries,  and 
it  was  visited  by  pilgrims  until  it  was  destroyed.  The 
first  Crusaders  built  a  cathedral  upon  its  ruins,  a  build- 


352  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

ing  of  imposing  dimensions  and  formidable  walls, 
which  they  used  as  a  fortress.  In  the  second  crusade, 
upon  the  approach  of  Richard  the  Lion  Heart  and  his 
legions,  Saladin  destroyed  it.  Richard  rebuilt  the 
shrine  and  carried  the  name  and  the  fame  of  St. 
George  to  England,  where,  under  King  Edward  III.,  he 
became  the  patron  saint  of  that  country.  He  is  the 
object  of  Mohammedan  as  well  as  Christian  reverence, 
and  the  Moslems  claim  to  have  his  body  in  the 
Damascus  mosque.  The  members  of  both  faiths 
have  his  name  upon  their  lists  of  saints.  The  legend 
of  his  rescue  of  a  beautiful  maiden  from  a  dragon 
can  be  traced  back  only  to  the  sixth  century,  and  is  said 
to  have  originally  been  a  parable  intended  to  illustrate 
the  triumph  of  Christianity  over  paganism.  Other 
scholars  consider  it  a  version  of  the  legend  of  Perseus 
and  Andromeda. 

To-day  the  population  of  Lydda  does  not  number 
more  than  300  or  400,  mostly  Mohammedans,  and  the 
great  Cathedral  of  St.  George  is  a  mosque. 

It  is  fifty-three  miles  by  railroad  from  Jaffa  to  Jeru¬ 
salem;  there  is  one  passenger  train  each  way  daily  and 
the  journey  is  about  four  hours.  The  track  is  standard 
gauge.  The  locomotives  and  rolling  stock  were  built 
in  France  for  the  Panama  road,  but  upon  the  collapse 
of  the  canal  company  the  owners  of  the  Jerusalem 
line,  who  are  also  Frenchmen,  bid  them  in  at  a  low 
price.  The  managers  of  the  railway  are  French,  but 
most  of  the  employes  are  Arabs.  The  track  is  well 
constructed  and  kept  in  excellent  order;  the  station 
houses,  water  tanks,  side  tracks,  machine-shops  and 
other  parts  of  the  plant  are  beyond  criticism.  The 
grade  is  quite  steep  in  certain  places,  the  highest  ele¬ 
vation  being  a  pass  in  the  mountains  of  Judea,  3,500 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


feet  above  the  sea.  It  then  descends  gradually  to 
Jerusalem,  which  is  about  2,500  feet.  The  journey 
formerly  required  two  days  by  carriage  or  diligence 
and  was  very  tedious.  The  camel  trains  make  it  in 
about  twenty-six  hours,  stopping  only  occasionally  for 
rest  and  feed.  Many  sentimental  people  complain  of 
the  invasion  of  the  Holy  Land  by  modern  improve¬ 
ments,  and  deplore  that  the  sanctity  of  the  holy  city  is 
defiled  by  the  odor  of  steam,  the  soot  of  burning  coal 
and  the  shriek  of  the  locomotive  whistle,  and  if  those 
were  all  that  defiled  Jerusalem  every  person  of  public 
spirit  and  religious  convictions  would  be  willing  to 
have  them  suppressed.  They  are  the  very  least  of  the 
evils  that  afflict  Zion,  and  for  the  poor,  sick  and  weary 
pilgrims,  who  come  here  by  thousands  to  kiss  the 
sacred  soil  and  to  pray  at  the  cradle  and  the  tomb  of 
the  Savior  the  railway  is  an  unmeasured  blessing. 

Our  train  was  an  ordinary  one,  made  up  of  first  and 
third  class  coaches.  The  latter  were  crowded  with 
Russian  pilgrims,  devotees  of  the  Greek  church,  and  I 
was  told  that  the  party  was  small  compared  with  the 
numbers  that  are  generally  carried  over  the  road  each 
way  daily  at  that  season  of  the  year.  They  were  mostly 
old  people,  peasants,  stout-looking  men  and  women, 
wearing  the  heaviest  of  winter  clothing  in  the  warm 
spring  sunshine  of  Jaffa,  clumsy  cowhide  boots  and  fur 
caps,  which  looked  so  hot  and  uncomfortable.  Each 
had  a  roll  of  bedding  and  a  sack  containing  food  and 
other  supplies,  and  nearly  all  of  them  had  teapots  and 
cups  of  tin  or  granite  ware  hanging  from  their  belts 
or  over  their  shoulders  by  a  strap.  They  literally  take 
up  their  beds  and  walk,  and  cook  their  own  meals 
while  on  the  journey,  buying  what  supplies  they  need 
at  the  local  shops.  But  the  Russian  government  looks 


354  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


after  them  with  great  care  and  solicitude,  making  sure 
that  they  are  well  treated  and  are  protected  from 
swindlers  and  other  evils. 

The  Russian  consul  at  Jerusalem  has  a  large  staff  of 
assistants,  and  his  vice  consul  at  Jaffa  always  receives 
parties  of  pilgrims  when  they  arrive  and  sends  guides 
and  military  guards  with  them  to  Jerusalem,  where 
they  are  transferred  to  the  officials  there  and  taken  to 
the  hospices  provided  by  the  government  for  their 
accommodation.  No  other  nation  exercises  this 
paternal  care  over  its  pilgrims.  Those  who  come  from 
other  countries  have  to  look  after  themselves,  and  are 
the  prey  of  human  cormorants  in  all  garbs  and  guises. 
The  Russian  pilgrims  on  our  train  were  chaperoned  by 
two  fine-looking  Montenegrins,  who  bought  their 
tickets  and  watched  over  them  as  carefully  as  if  they 
had  been  paid  couriers  of  princes. 

Several  picturesque-looking  natives  had  places  in  the 
third-class  car:  Bedouins,  wearing  under  their  turbans 
the  long  white  curtains  that  protect  the  back  of  their 
heads  and  necks  from  the  burning  sun,  and  girded 
about  with  scimitars,  revolvers  and  knives,  as  if  they 
were  on  their  way  to  battle.  There  were  veiled  women 
wrapped  in  sheets  that  concealed  every  outline  of  their 
figures,  as  the  shawls  over  their  heads  concealed  their 
faces. 

The  first-class  carriages  were  crowded  with  German, 
English  and  American  excursionists  from  the  steamer 
Augusta  Victoria,  which  arrived  that  day  with  a  party 
of  350  passengers.  Most  of  them  went  up  to  Jerusa¬ 
lem  on  a  special  train  early  in  the  morning  and  were 
distributed  around  among  the  different  hotels.  While 
these  excursions  have  their  advantages  in  respect  of 
economy  and  social  features,  the  passengers  have  to  go 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


about  in  droves  like  “dumb  driven  cattle,”  having  a 
fixed  daily  and  hourly  schedule  for  sight-seeing  to 
which  they  are  compelled  to  adhere  strictly,  because 
there  are  so  many  places  to  see  and  so  little  time.  If 
anything  is  omitted  or  overdone  the  entire  arrange¬ 
ment  is  disconcerted  and  demoralized;  hence  the  con¬ 
ductors  are  compelled  to  preserve  the  strictest  kind  of 
discipline.  The  passengers  are  assigned  to  hotels  so 
far  as  they  can  be  accommodated  and  packed  away  as 
closely  as  possible.  When  the  hotels  are  filled  the 
remainder  are  sent  to  the  monasteries  of  the  Catholic 
religious  orders,  which  are  much  more  comfortable  and 
cleaner  than  most  of  the  hotels. 

Three  hundred  and  fifty  people  fill  up  a  place  like 
Jerusalem;  they  crowd  the  churches  and  other  places 
that  must  be  visited,  so  that  they  are  not  only  uncom¬ 
fortable,  but  it  is  difficult  for  some  of  them  to  see  or 
hear  anything.  In  a  city  like  London,  Rome,  Naples 
or  Constantinople  eight  hundred  strangers  can  be  taken 
care  of  easily,  but  the  Holy  Land  lacks  room  for  so 
many.  The  country  cannot  accommodate  them. 

It  is  difficult  to  study  Old  Testament  history  in  a 
railway  car,  even  though  the  train  does  not  run  faster 
than  fifteen  miles  an  hour,  but  we  can  at  least  look  out 
of  the  window  as  we  pass  holy  and  historic  places  and 
read  about  them  in  the  guide  book  in  the  meantime. 
Every  mile  of  country  through  which  the  track  runs  is 
associated  with  events  in  the  early  life  of  the  Jewish 
nation.  On  every  side  are  hills,  valleys  and  villages 
that  we  read  about  in  the  Bible  when  we  were  children 
in  the  Sunday  school.  The  first  station  after  Jaffa  is 
Lydda,  the  home  of  St.  George,  the  dragon  killer,  and 
the  scene  of  many  exciting  events  during  the  crusades. 
The  second  station  is  Ramleh,  which  is  said  to  have 


356  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

been  the  home  of  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  who  loaned 
his  tomb  to  Jesus.  We  cross  the  Plain  of  Sharon, 
which  is  covered  with  luxuriant  orchards  of  orange, 
lemon  and  fig  trees.  The  fields  are  radiant  with  wild 
flowers,  millions  of  poppies,  pimpernels,  anemones, 
convolvulus,  narcissus,  blue  iris,  roses  of  Sharon  and 
lilies  of  the  valley.  All  nature  is  alive  and  pulsating 
with  the  energy  of  growth,  “every  clod  feels  the  stir  of 
life,”  the  air  is  filled  with  bees  and  butterflies,  and 
the  twittering  of  birds  and  the  shadows  of  hawks  creep 
over  the  fields  as  they  soar  between  them  and  the  sun. 
At  the  railway  stations  are  crowds  of  children  and 
women  with  great  nosegays  of  brilliant  colors,  which 
they  offer  for  a  penny,  and  large  baskets  of  oranges 
and  other  fruits  for  any  price  that  the  passengers  will 

pay. 

As  the  train  winds  out  from  the  cultivated  valley 
into  the  dark  gorges  of  the  mountains  we  pass  Gezer, 
an  ancient  town,  which  belonged  to  Pharaoh  and  came 
into  the  possession  of  Solomon  as  the  dowry  of  one  of 
“his  nine  hundred  brides.  It  was  once  an  important 
place,  but  has  been  a  mass  of  shapeless  ruins  since  the 
crusades,  and  the  English  Exploration  Society  has 
recently  obtained  permission  from  the  sultan  to  exca¬ 
vate  among  them,  with  confidence  of  making  important 
archeological  discoveries. 

The  foothills  are  clad  with  vineyards,  and  in  each 
one  is  a  watch  tower,  occupied  by  sentinels  day  and 
night  as  the  fruit  becomes  ripe,  to  keep  wandering 
Bedouins  from  stealing  the  grapes.  The  hills  are  ter¬ 
raced  to  their  very  tops  with  walls  of  stone  to  prevent 
the  soil  from  being  washed  down  into  the  valleys  by 
the  heavy  rains,  and  to  give  the  roots  of  the  vines 
more  room  to  grow.  As  we  approach  the  divide  the 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


357 


scenery  becomes  more  rugged  and  rocky,  and  the  soil 
less  fertile.  There  are  no  more  plowed  fields  or  olive 
groves  or  vineyards,  but  the  mountain  sides  are  cov¬ 
ered  with  herds  of  cattle  and  flocks  of  sheep  and 
goats,  and  we  see  both  natural  and  artificial  caverns  in 
the  walls  of  rock.  One  of  them  is  pointed  out  as  the 
tomb  of  Samson,  and  all  of  them  at  one  time  or 
another  have  been  occupied  by  monkish  hermits  and 
used  as  retreats  by  penitents  who  have  given  them¬ 
selves  up  to  fasting  and  meditation  to  purify  their 
souls  and  mortify  their  flesh.  Many  of  these  subter¬ 
ranean  chambers  are  identified  with  the  early  saints, 
but  history  and  legendry  are  mixed  up  so  closely 
through  all  this  country  that  we  never  know  how  to 
separate  them. 

Elijah,  Elisha,  Jeremiah  and  other  of  the  prophets 
are  said  to  have  lived  here.  The  home  of  Jeremiah 
was  at  Anathoth,  a  little  village  northeast  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  from  which  you  can  look  over  the  broken  and 
barren  hills  which  surround  the  Dead  Sea  and  the 
desert,  and  were  always  before  the  gaze  of  the  prophet; 
a  desolate  vision  that  was  burned  into  his  memory. 
The  howling  of  wild  beasts,  the  drifting  of  the  dry 
sand,  the  rush  of  wind  through  the  gorges,  were  the 
music  to  which  his  life  was  attuned,  and  the  impres¬ 
sions  appear  upon  every  page  of  his  prophecies. 

We  cross  the  Wady  el  Nazil,  a  wide  valley  which 
separates  the  Judean  range  of  mountains  from  the 
lower  hills  of  the  west.  A  narrow  pass  leads  through 
the  ravines  to  Hebron,  about  twelve  miles  away,  and 
Bethlehem  is  just  a  little  off  the  road.  It  is  a  rough 
but  happy  land,  with  glens  and  moors  and  narrow 
strips  of  cultivated  soil,  utilized  wherever  found; 
scanty  pastures  and  clumps  of  brushwood,  and  here 


358  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

and  there  is  a  group  of  pines.  It  is  an  ideal  place  for 
bushmen  like  Samson  and  was  once  strewn  with  the 
bones  of  his  enemies.  Here  Israel  met  the  Philistines 
in  battle  again  and  again.  Here  the  sun  stood  still  at 
General  Joshua’s  orders.  It  was  the  border  land 
between  the  territory  of  the  two  nations.  Their  armies 
were  encamped  in  this  valley  on  that  day  when  Jesse 
sent  his  boy  David  down  from  Bethlehem  to  inquire  of 
his  brothers  for  news,  and  the  stripling  shepherd 
accepted  the  challenge  of  Goliath,  the  Philistine  giant. 
The  duel  seems  to  have  been  fought  in  several  differ¬ 
ent  places,  according  to  the  opinions  of  the  various 
authorities  upon  such  subjects,  and  one  man  has  as 
good  a  right  to  point  out  the  spot  as  another,  since 
nobody  knows  anything  about  it,  except  that  it 
occurred  somewhere  near  this  place.  The  Vale  of 
Elah  was  the  scene  of  the  greatest  campaigns  of  David 
afterward;  several  battles  between  the  Jews  and 
Romans  were  fought  there,  and  between  Saladin  and 
the  crusaders.  Every  inch  of  the  soil  has  been  con¬ 
tested  again  and  again  and  drenched  with  the  blood  of 
several  races. 

Crawling  through  these  gorges  the  train  crossed  the 
boundaries  of  Judea  and  entered  upon  a  region  which 
has  been  the  scene  of  more  history  and  the  center  of 
more  interest  than  any  spot  in  the  world.  Judea  was 
the  most  enduring  dynasty  of  Israel,  and  its  name  has 
clung  to  the  race,  being  used  more  generally  than  their 
ancestral  title  of  Hebrews  or  the  sacred  title  of  Israel, 
and  yet  the  country  is  very  small,  about  the  size  of  an 
ordinary  county  in  the  United  States.  The  distance 
from  Bethel  to  Beersheba,  the  farthest  limits  north  and 
south,  is  fifty-five  miles,  and  the  breadth  of  the  prov¬ 
ince  averages  about  twenty-five  miles;  the  total  area 


FROM  JAFFA  TO  JERUSALEM 


being  1,350  miles,  of  which  nearly  one-half  is 
desert  Judea  is  a  high  and  broken  tableland,  varying 
in  altitude  from  1,200  to  3,000  feet  above  the  sea,  The 
summit  of  the  Mount  of  Olives  is  2,580  feet  higher 
than  the  landing  place  at  Jaffa. 


XIX 

The  Holy  City 


361 


RAILROAD  STATION  AT  JERUSALEM. 


XIX 


THE  HOLY  CITY 

There  is  a  handsome  railway  station  in  Jerusalem, 
built  of  a  fine  quality  of  pinkish  stone,  which  is  quar¬ 
ried  in  the  vicinity  and  generally  used  for  building 
purposes.  Just  before  the  train  enters  the  town  it 
passes  through  a  group  of  attractive-looking  houses 
built  of  the  same  material,  with  roofs  of  red  tile  and 
surrounded  by  orange  and  olive  trees  and  luxuriant 
gardens.  You  know  at  once  that  either  Europeans  or 
Americans  abide  there,  because  no  Turk,  Arab  or  Jew, 
in  this  part  of  the  country  at  least,  ever  kept  such 
neat  places  or  thought  of  surrounding  himself  with 
such  beautiful  specimens  of  the  vegetable  kingdom. 
It  is  another  of  the  colonies  of  Germans,  founded  by 
the  Temple  Society,  who  have  come  here,  as  they 
went  to  Jaffa,  Haifa  and  elsewhere,  to  promote  the 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth  and  teach  their  neighbors 
how  to  live  in  cleanliness,  comfort  and  contentment; 
how  to  spend  their  time  in  useful  occupations  and  how 
to  deal  honorably  with  their  fellow  men — lessons  which 
the  population  of  the  Orient  find  it  very  difficult  to 
learn.  The  Temple  Society  does  no  evangelical  work, 
although  it  is  founded  upon  religious  principles.  It  is 
organized  to  promote  the  material  welfare  of  the 
people  of  Palestine,  and,  although  there  is  not  much 
improvement  to  be  noticed  yet,  they  have  probably 
made  as  many  converts  as  the  other  missionary  soci¬ 
eties,  certainly  more  than  the  missions  to  the  Jews. 

The  missionary  question  must  be  treated  more  deli- 

363 


364  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

cately  in  Palestine  than  elsewhere  because  converts  are 
so  few.  I  was  not  able  to  learn  of  a  single  Moslem 
convert  to  Christianity  and  of  only  two  Jewish  con¬ 
verts,  although  I  asked  pointed  questions  of  all  the 
Catholic,  Protestant  and  Orthodox  Greek  missionaries 
I  have  met.  The  Protestants  and  Catholics  claim  con¬ 
verts  from  the  Orthodox  Greeks  and  less  numerous 
sects  that  exist  there.  I  have  not  yet  heard  of  a  Greek 
missionary  who  has  converted  a  Protestant  or  a  Cath¬ 
olic,  and  yet  all  of  them  are  doing  an  immense  amount 
of  preaching  to  each  other  and  good  work  in  their  hos¬ 
pitals,  schools  and  other  charitable  institutions.  Their 
influence  is  notable  in  many  places  toward  the 
improvement  of  morals  and  the  advancement  of  civili¬ 
zation.  We  know  what  the  country  was  before  the 
missionaries  came  and  there  has  been  a  decided  change 
for  the  better  since.  A  mission  for  the  promotion  of 
street  and  house  cleaning,  to  induce  the  people  to  use 
soap,  towels,  bathtubs  and  fine-tooth  combs  would  be 
very  useful,  and  perhaps  might  accomplish  a  great  deal 
if  it  would  begin  with  the  governor  and  work  down, 
for  the  governor’s  palace  is  one  of  the  filthiest  places 
in  all  Jerusalem,  and  its  surroundings  are  repulsive 
enough  to  nauseate  a  man  with  copper  insides. 

It  is  almost  impossible  for  persons  with  delicate 
stomachs,  who  are  accustomed  to  pure  air,  to  visit  the 
Jewish  quarter.  It  fairly  reeks  with  stenches  that  are 
new  and  strange.  The  pavements  of  the  streets,  the 
courts  within  the  houses,  and  the  living  apartments  as 
far  as  we  had  the  courage  to  inspect  them  are  unfit 
for  human  habitation.  One  of  the  most  prominent 
Jewish  inhabitants,  a  scholar  and  a  philanthropist, 
apologized  for  these  conditions  and  explained  that  the 
filthy  condition  was  due  to  a  lack  of  water;  that  the 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


365 


water  facilities  in  Jerusalem  are  very  limited,  and 
that  all  the  supply  for  the  families  has  to  be  brought  a 
long  distance  in  jars  upon  the  heads  of  women  and 
children. 

The  platform  at  the  railway  station  was  crowded 
with  idlers  who  assemble  daily  to  enjoy  the  exciting 
sensation  of  seeing  the  train  roll  in  and  the  passengers 
disembark.  Many  of  them  were  officers  of  the  army 
who  have  nothing  else  to  do.  There  are  no  amuse¬ 
ments  in  Jerusalem,  no  parks,  no  tennis,  no  golf,  no 
promenades,  no  place  to  ride  horseback;  no  society, 
no  theaters,  no  concerts,  no  dinner  parties,  no  5  o’clock 
teas,  no  flirtations,  no  libraries,  no  lectures,  no  read¬ 
ing-rooms,  no  clubs,  and  nothing  in  the  way  of  diver¬ 
sion  for  the  hundreds  of  officers  attached  to  the 
military  garrison  and  other  young  men  in  town,  who 
can  only  sit  around  their  barracks  or  go  to  the  cafes, 
or  play  billiards.  Hence  the  arrival  of  a  railway  train 
and  a  lot  of  strangers,  who  can  be  stared  at  and  criti¬ 
cised  and  gossiped  about,  is  a  welcome  incident  in  the 
dreary  monotony  of  each  day.  The  same  applies  to 
Damascus  and  all  the  towns  that  have  railway  advan¬ 
tages. 

The  hackmen  are  vociferous  and  are  not  regulated 
or  restrained  by  the  police.  The  porters  areimperti-’ 
nent.  They  grab  your  bags,  rush  off,  put  them  into 
the  carriages  of  their  friends  and  hold  on  to  them  until 
you  submit  to  blackmail.  If  you  telegraph  for  rooms, 
a  dragoman  from  the  hotel  comes  down  to  meet  you, 
takes  charge  of  your  luggage,  escorts  you  to  a  carriage 
he  has  bespoken,  and  stands  off  the  enterprising  Arabs 
who  are  trying  to  frighten  you  into  paying  baksheesh. 

The  depot  is  outside  the  walls,  about  ten  minutes’ 
ride  from  the  Jaffa  gate,  which  is  the  busiest  place  in 


366  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Jerusalem,  and  the  Tower  of  David  its  most  pictur¬ 
esque  bit  of  architecture,  and  the  only  one  of  the  three 
ancient  towers  that  was  spared  by  the  Emperor  Titus 
when  he  destroyed  the  city.  When  one  approaches 
from  the  direction  of  the  railway  station,  which  is  on 
the  road  to  Bethlehem,  it  has  the  appearance  of  a 
strongly  fortified  medieval  castle.  When  Jerusalem 
was  taken  by  the  crusaders  it  was  the  last  place  to 
yield.  It  rises  to  the  height  of  seventy  feet,  is  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  deep  moat  and  entered  by  an  arched 
bridge.  The  lower  tiers  in  the  walls,  which  are 
extremely  ancient,  are  laid  off  with  enormous  blocks 
of  stone,  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length  and  eight  or  ten 
feet  thick,  which  have  withstood  the  battering  rams  of 
invaders  and  the  decay  of  the  ages — a  solid,  formidable 
pile,  which  is  now  occupied  by  a  Turkish  garrison  and 
is  the  headquarters  of  the  police  and  the  military  com¬ 
mandant.  This  castle  was  not  built  by  David,  but 
probably  stands  upon  foundations  that  he  laid  and 
commands  the  approach  to  Mount  Zion,  upon  which 
his  palace  stood. 

Outside  the  Jaffa  Gate,  which  adjoins  the  Tower  of 
David,  and  is  the  chief  entrance  for  trade,  travel  and 
pilgrims  into  the  Holy  City,  is  a  large  square  sur¬ 
rounded  by  cafes,  commission  and  brokerage  offices, 
animal  corrals  and  khans,  the  busiest  place  in  all 
Judea,  where  all  the  centuries  and  all  the  races  meet 
and  hustle  each  other.  It  is  the  horse  and  camel  mar¬ 
ket  of  Jerusalem,  the  headquarters  of  the  saddlers, 
farriers  and  veterinarians,  the  starting  place  of  the 
caravans  that  leave  and  the  camping  place  of  those 
that  enter  the  city.  It  is  the  rendezvous  of  buyers  and 
sellers  of  all  classes  of  produce  and  merchandise,  a 
general  market  at  which  anything  can  be  bought  or 


JERUSALEM  FROM  THE  HOTEL  BALCONY. 


1 


■ 


. 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


367 


ordered,  a  sort  of  bourse  or  exchange  and  chamber  of 
commerce.  It  is  the  court  and  the  parliament  of  the 
masses,  where  they  hold  public  meetings,  discuss  poli¬ 
tics  and  theology  and  gossip  about  the  state  of  affairs. 
It  is  an  employment  agency,  where  groups  of  laborers 
and  husbandmen  and  mechanics  sit  around  and  sleep 
in  the  sun  while  waiting  to  be  hired,  and  where  angry 
women  come  to  hunt  for  truant  husbands  and  lovers. 
Here  complaints  are  made  to  the  police  officers,  and 
lawyers  consult  with  clients  from  the  country.  It  is 
an  unpaved  and  dusty  forum,  littered  with  rubbish  and 
filth,  swarming  with  mangy  dogs,  obstructed  by  ugly 
camels,  which  chew  their  cuds  indifferently  and  give 
their  whole  mind  to  the  purpose  of  their  stay  there, 
which  is  rest.  Professional  letter  writers  with  a 
scholarly  air,  wearing  spotless  white  turbans  and  long 
white  cotton  cloaks,  sit  around  with  ink-horns  and 
blocks  of  paper  in  convenient  corners,  sheltered  by 
umbrellas  from  the  heat  of  the  sun,  just  as  they  have 
done  in  the  public  places  of  Jerusalem  since  the  days 
of  David.  Money  changers  have  piles  of  coins  dis¬ 
played  upon  little  tables  before  them;  dealers  in  pot¬ 
tery,  saddlery,  groceries,  bread  and  other  necessaries 
of  life  required  by  the  caravans  have  shaded  stands 
against  the  walls.  Arab  and  Jewish  girls  go  about 
chaffing  their  admirers  and  selling  baskets  of  fruit; 
venders  of  lemonade  and  sherbet,  with  pigskins  hung 
over  their  shoulders,  which  look  as  if  they  would  burst 
with  their  contents,  clink  brass  cups  with  a  musical 
rhythm  like  castanets,  to  attract  attention.  Sharp¬ 
looking  old  men  offer  the  camel  drivers  rosaries,  beads 
and  amulets  to  hang  around  the  necks  of  their  animals 
to  keep  off  the  evil  eye;  itinerant  barbers  do  a  brisk 
business  all  day  out  of  doors,  shaving  the  heads  of  the 


368  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Bedouins.  You  can  hire  here  horses,  saddles,  camels, 
donkeys  and  any  other  kind  of  beast  by  the  hour  or 
the  day  or  the  week,  or  by  the  distance;  you  can 
charter  camel  trains  for  any  place  within  the  limits  of 
Asia  Minor  or  Egypt;  you  can  contract  for  the  trans¬ 
portation  of  freight  to  any  point,  and  you  can  buy  or 
sell  anything  that  is  marketable. 

Inside  the  gates  there  is  a  similar  scene,  limited  by 
the  narrower  space,  which  is  surrounded  by  the  Euro¬ 
pean  consulates,  banks,  tourist  agencies,  restaurants  of 
European  style  and  the  shops  of  curio  dealers,  for 
here  is  the  largest  hotel  in  town,  patronized  by  the 
richest  strangers  and  the  residence  quarter  of  the 
foreign  population.  Back  of  it  is  the  Christian  quar¬ 
ter  and  the  best  part  of  the  city.  The  streets  are  not 
so  filthy  as  elsewhere  and  are  wide  enough  for  a  man 
and  a  camel  to  pass.  The  finest  house  is  owned  and 
occupied  by  the  abbot  of  the  Greek  monastery,  the 
richest  man  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  the  most 
enterprising.  There  are  good  hotels  in  Jerusalem, 
with  all  grades  of  rates  and  accommodations.  Dr. 
Merrill,  who  has  been  consul  of  the  United  States  here 
for  thirty  years  or  more,  off  and  on,  and  who  knows 
all  about  Palestine,  lives  at  one  of  them,  and  is  the 
center  of  attraction  and  the  oracle  for  advice  and 
information  during  the  tourist  season. 

Strangers  are  beset  by  beggars  and  peddlers  from 
the  time  they  step  off  the  cars  until  they  step  on  again 
for  departure,  and  it  is  one  of  the  worst  nuisances  they 
have  to  endure.  Three-fourths  of  the  people  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  get  their  living  off  pilgrims  and  tourists,  who 
are  met  by  swindlers  and  imposters  on  every  side. 
The  sale  of  bogus  relics  is  one  of  the  most  extensive 
and  profitable  industries.  Every  pilgrim  and  every 


A  BEDOUIN  TENT. 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


369 


tourist  thinks  it  necessary  to  take  home  with  him  a 
quantity  of  souvenirs  made  of  olive  wood,  and  the 
dealer  invariably  guarantees  that  the  wood  from  which 
they  are  made  came  from  the  Mount  of  Olives.  Tons, 
car  loads,  of  boxes,  paper  cutters,  crosses,  albums, 
picture  frames,  Bible  and  prayer  book  covers,  rulers, 
writing  desks,  tablets,  and  other  things  are  sold  and 
carried  off  every  year  by  sentimental  people,  and 
cherished  as  souvenirs  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  when 
if  they  had  stopped  to  inquire  they  would  very  soon 
learn  that  not  one  of  the  few  trees  that  remain  on 
Olivet  has  been  trimmed  for  fifty  years.  Loads  of 
olive  lumber  are  brought  to  shops  on  the  outskirts  of 
Jerusalem  and  worked  up  into  boxes,  but  not  a 
splinter  of  it  comes  from  sacred  ground.  The  Garden 
of  Gethsemane  is  another  favorite  place  for  relics, 
mostly  sprigs  of  cypress  and  olive,  and  pressed  flowers. 
Ship  loads  of  such  souvenirs  are  sent  over  the  world 
every  year.  They  are  sold  at  church  fairs  and  festi¬ 
vals;  they  are  presented  to  libraries  and  museums  by 
pious  people,  are  gratefully  received  and  appreciated, 
and  the  monks  who  are  in  the  business  make  large 
sums  of  money;  but  not  one  spring  of  olive  or  cypress 
out  of  a  hundred  thousand  actually  comes  from 
Gethsemane.  The  monks  gather  their  material  from 
the  olive  groves  on  the  surrounding  hills,  and  when  I 
accused  a  jolly  Irish  Franciscan  of  being  engaged  in 
this  business  he  laughed  and  explained  that  they  mix 
as  many  sprigs  as  they  can  spare  from  Gethsemane 
with  the  supply  they  bring  from  the  country,  and  that 
sanctifies  the  whole. 

Next  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  the 
Christian  tourists  and  pilgrims  find  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane  the  most  interesting  spot  in  Palestine, 


370  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


but  unless  they  happen  to  be  in  a  state  of  ecstasy  it  is 
very  disappointing.  There  are  two  gardens  in  which 
it  is  claimed  that  the  Savior  spent  that  awful  night — 
one  held  by  the  orthodox  Greeks  and  the  other  by  the 
Roman  Catholics,  but  they  are  contiguous,  and  it  is 
possible  that  both  may  have  been  a  single  garden  at 
the  time  of  the  Savior.  The  interiors  are  similarly 
arranged  and  both  are  surrounded  by  high  stone  walls, 
plastered  and  whitewashed  and  protected  by  heavily 
barred  gates  of  oak  and  iron.  Both  are  laid  out  in 
what  is  called  the  French  style,  with  hedges  of  box 
wood  and  gravel  walks  dividing  rectangular,  triangular 
and  hemispherical  beds  in  which  flowering  plants  are 
growing.  There  are  clumps  of  palms,  lilacs  and  ole¬ 
anders  at  the  corners  and  fountains  in  the  center. 
Everything  is  as  unlike  as  possible  what  the  place 
must  have  been  at  the  time  of  the  crucifixion,  while  a 
heavy  wire  screen,  with  close  meshes,  higher  than  the 
head  of  a  man,  protects  the  plants  from  vandals.  The 
only  evidence  of  antiquity  are  eight  aged  olive  trees, 
whose  appearance  dispels  all  doubt  as  to  their  age,  and 
some  botanists  have  asserted  that  they  are  the  most 
venerable  of  their  race  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
while  the  guides  insist  that  they  are  the  very  trees 
under  which  the  Savior  wept  and  prayed. 

The  Roman  Catholic  garden  is  very  small,  not  more 
than  300  feet  long  by  200  feet  wide,  in  the  shape  of  an 
irregular  triangle.  The  Greek  garden  is  considerably 
larger. 

These  trees  are  utilized  in  an  extraordinary  manner 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  money.  Each  is  theoreti¬ 
cally  owned  by  a  stock  company,  unlimited.  As  much 
stock  is  issued  as  the  public  will  absorb,  and  the  divi¬ 
dends,  which  are  paid  in  the  form  of  little  fancy  vials 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


371 


filled  with  oil,  are  certain.  Although  the  trees  ceased  to 
bear  fruit  generations  ago,  the  monks  in  charge  do  not 
hesitate  to  give  assurances  to  the  contrary  to  the  share¬ 
holders,  and  of  course  there  is  always  enough  olive  oil 
to  be  had  in  Jerusalem  to  pay  the  dividends.  Ground 
sanctified  by  the  Savior’s  tears,  to  many  minds  the 
most  sacred  spot  on  earth,  is  thus  profaned  by  this  and 
other  swindles  practiced  by  men  who  should  be  driven 
from  that  holy  place  as  Christ  drove  the  traders  from 
the  temple. 

There  are  many  humbugs  about  here.  The  guides 
point  out  to  you  the  “terra  damnata,”  the  exact  spot 
where  Judas  kissed  the  Savior,  and  the  stone  upon 
which  the  apostles  slept  when  they  should  have  been 
watching.  The  gospels  tell  us  that  three  of  them 
were  in  the  party,  but  the  stone  is  not  big  enough  for 
more  than  two  very  small  men. 

Gethsemane  is  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount  of  Olives, 
and  a  good  roadway,  kept  in  excellent  order  by  the 
Russians,  leads  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  an  easy  walk  of 
half  an  hour.  Upon  the  way  you  see  some  remarkable 
things.  For  example,  a  light  gray  rock  is  pointed  out 
as  the  place  where  the  Madonna  dropped  her  girdle 
when  she  ascended  to  heaven;  a  little  farther  up  is 
another  rock  upon  which  Jesus  stood  when  He  beheld 
the  city  and  wept  over  it.  Here  is  the  stone  from 
which  the  Holy  Virgin  mounted  the  ass  when  starting 
upon  her  journey  to  Egypt.  Here  is  the  place  where 
Jesus  forgave  Peter  all  his  sins.  A  place  where  Mary 
once  met  her  Son  when  she  was  going  to  Bethany  and 
He  was  on  His  way  to  Jerusalem,  is  marked  by  a  cross, 
and  cavities  in  several  rocks  on  the  hillside  are  shown 
as  foot  prints  of  saints.  The  barren  fig  tree  cursed  by 
the  Savior  is  still  growing  on  the  Bethany  side  of  the 


372  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


mountain,  and  in  that  little  town,  which  is  only  two 
miles  from  Gethsemane,  a  pleasant  walk  around  the 
side  of  Mount  Olivet,  are  shown  four  different  houses 
in  which  Mary  and  Martha  lived  with  their  brother 
Lazarus.  Two  different  trees  are  pointed  out  as  the 
actual  gibbets  upon  which  Judas  hanged  himself,  in 
proof  whereof  the  branches  grow  toward  the  East, 
pointing  away  from  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  and  the  guides 
will  tell  you  that  this  is  a  miracle.  Judas  trees  were 
formerly  more  numerous  than  now,  and  twenty-five 
years  ago  they  were  at  an  entirely  different  locality. 
Faith  in  the  longevity  of  trees  in  this  country  is 
astonishing.  Down  at  Jericho  they  show  you  the  tree 
that  Zaccheus  climbed  to  see  the  Savior  pass  by.  To 
some  people  these  humbugs  are  so  manifest  as  to  be 
amusing,  but  they  deceive  90  per  cent  of  the  devout, 
trusting  pilgrims  who  come  to  worship  and  adore  and 
thus  a  great  wrong  is  done. 

Across  the  street  from  Gethsemane,  only  a  few  yards 
away,  is  a  very  ancient  church  known  as  the  Church 
of  the  Virgin,  erected  as  long  ago  as  the  fifty  century 
to  cover  the  traditional  tomb  of  the  Holy  Mother,  and 
beside  it  are  shown  the  tombs  of  her  husband,  Joseph, 
her  father,  Joachim,  and  her  mother,  Anna;  although 
there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  of  their  authenticity 
and  the  general  council  of  the  church  centuries  ago 
decided  that  the  Madonna  died  and  was  buried  in 
Ephesus.  Nevertheless  this  is  a  hallowed  place,  and 
one  of  the  most  ancient  shrines  around  Jerusalem. 
The  original  church  was  destroyed  during  the  Persian 
invasion,  and  the  crusaders  found  nothing  but  ruins 
here;  but  Milicent,  daughter  of  Baldwin  II.  and  wife 
of  Fulke  of  Anjou,  fourth  King  of  Jerusalem,  built  the 
present  church  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


373 


tury,  and  it  is  still  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preservation. 
It  has  frequently  changed  hands,  and  now  belongs  to 
the  Greeks.  The  Roman  Catholics,  the  Armenians 
and  the  Abyssinians  have  altars  in  little  chapels,  and 
the  Mohammedans  have  a  prayer  recess  to  which  their 
priests  come  frequently,  as  they  regard  it  as  a  holy 
place. 

Near  the  altar  of  the  Abyssinians  is  a  well,  believed 
to  be  fed  by  the  River  of  Paradise,  and  the  Greeks  and 
Armenians  consider  it  a  specific  for  all  diseases. 
According  to  their  traditions  the  spring  was  opened 
by  the  pressure  of  the  sandal  of  the  Ploly  Mother  when 
she  sprang  into  the  arms  of  the  angel  hosts  that  carried 
her  to  heaven.  Of  her  life  after  the  crucifixion  we 
know  absolutely  nothing,  and  the  traditions  do  not 
agree.  One  says  that  she  remained  quietly  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem  with  the  family  of  John,  the  beloved  disciple  to 
whom  Jesus  intrusted  the  care  of  His  mother,  and  died 
here  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  Another  tradition 
says  that  she  accompanied  the  apostle  when  he  went  to 
Ephesus  to  meet  Paul  and  Barnabas,  about  the  year  50 
or  52,  as  related  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  The  Acts, 
and  that  she  died  there,  being  between  sixty-five  and 
seventy  years  of  age.  A  third  tradition  says  that  she 
accompanied  St.  John  and  his  family  to  Babylon  and 
died  there, 

Notwithstanding  the  plain  and  direct  statement  in 
the  gospels  that  Jesus  led  His  disciples  “as  far  as  to 
Bethany”  and,  having  “lifted  up  His  hands  and 
blessed  them,  He  was  parted  from  them  and  carried  up 
into  heaven,”  the  Chapel  of  the  Ascension  is  located 
upon  the  Jerusalem  side  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  in 
a  very  conspicuous  place,  not  far  from  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane.  This  is  said  to  be  due  to  a  misunder- 


374  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


standing.  In  the  year  315  the  Emperor  Constantine 
gave  directions  for  the  erection  of  a  chapel  upon  the 
site,  but,  through  the  stupidity  of  the  agents  to  whom 
the  duty  was  intrusted,  the  foundations  were  laid  here 
instead  of  on  the  other  side  of  Mount  Olivet,  as  plainly 
indicated  by  the  evangelists.  Copies  of  the  gospels 
were  very  scarce  in  those  days,  few  people  were  able 
to  read,  and  such  a  mistake  was  natural  and  easy,  but 
it  was  never  corrected.  A  venerable  priest  explained 
to  me  with  a  smile  that  it  was  easier  to  remove  the  site 
than  to  remove  the  chapel.  The  present  chapel, 
strange  to  say,  belongs  to  the  Mohammedans,  like  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  but  they  permit  the 
various  Christian  denominations  to  celebrate  mass 
there  on  certain  days,  and  the  Roman  Catholics,  Ortho¬ 
dox  Greeks,  Armenians,  Syrians,  Copts  and  Abyssi- 
nians  each  have  their  separate  altars.  Mohammedan 
moulahs  come  there  daily  to  pray,  and  on  Friday,  the 
Mohammedan  Sabbath,  Christians  are  not  allowed  in 
the  place.  In  many  other  ways  and  many  other  places 
the  followers  of  Mohammed  show  their  reverence  for 
Christ.  While  they  deny  Him  divinity,  they  accept 
Him  as  a  great  teacher,  an  inspired  teacher  and  mes¬ 
senger  of  God. 

There  is  quite  a  town  upon  the  summit  of  the  Mount 
of  Olives,  several  churches,  monasteries,  nunneries, 
hospices  and  other  buildings,  of  which  those  belong¬ 
ing  to  the  Russians  are  the  largest  and  most  conspic¬ 
uous.  Between  600  and  700  people  reside  there 
continuously,  and  a  procession  of  pilgrims  is  constantly 
passing  up  and  down  the  road  which  leads  from  Jeru¬ 
salem.  The  minaret  of  the  Russian  church  is  the  most 
conspicuous  object,  and  may  be  seen  from  every  point 
of  vantage  over  a  large  area.  The  view  from  its  bai- 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


375 


conies  is  unsurpassed.  The  Carmelite  nuns  have  an 
enormous  convent  and  novices  are  frequently  brought 
there  to  remain  in  the  sacred  atmosphere  for  several 
months  or  a  year  before  beginning  their  life  work. 
The  Greek  bishop  has  a  palace  within  the  Russian 
inclosure,  and  a  large  villa  belonging  to  the  late  Mar¬ 
quis  of  Bute,  a  Roman  Catholic  Scotsman,  stands 
near  by. 

The  slopes  of  Mount  Olivet  on  the  Jerusalem  side 
are  covered  with  Jewish  cemeteries,  the  graves  being 
marked  with  cenotaphs,  flat  slabs  of  marble  or  head¬ 
stones,  which  usually  bear  elaborate  inscriptions.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  when  the  last  trumpet  sounds 
more  Jews  will  arise  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat  than 
were  ever  gathered  together  since  the  hosts  of  Israel, 
under  Joshua,  crossed  the  Jordan,  but  the  number 
buried  there  is  unknown.  Several  associations  have 
charge  of  the  cemeteries,  and  their  records  are 
believed  to  be  accurately  kept,  but  this  has  been  a 
burial  ground  for  many  centuries  and  it  is  still  the 
holiest  desire  of  every  pious  Jew  to  lay  his  ashes  in 
this  sacred  soil.  There  are  other  cemeteries  on  the 
slopes  of  Mount  Zion,  but  those  of  Mount  Olivet  are 
more  popular.  Hence,  to  gratify  this  ambition,  the 
ground  has  been  sold  over  and  over  again,  and  the 
population  of  the  city  of  the  dead  has  been  renewed 
quite  as  often  as  that  of  the  city  of  the  living.  How¬ 
ever,  there  is  always  six  feet  of  earth  for  every  Jew 
that  comes,  and  not  only  Jews,  but  Jebusites,  Syrians, 
Macedonians,  Persians,  Romans,  Egyptians,  Saracens, 
Greeks,  Frenchmen,  Englishmen,  Germans  and  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  every  family  of  the  human  race,  even 
Turks,  have  sought  tombs  here;  unnamed  hosts, 
unnumbered  armies,  whose  ashes  have  been  allowed 


376  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

to  rest  until  their  beds  were  wanted  for  another  gener¬ 
ation. 

In  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  which  has  been  often 
used  as  a  symbol  of  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death,  are  several  conspicuous  tombs  and  monuments 
said  to  be  those  of  Absalom,  Saint  James  the  Apostle, 
Jehoshaphat,  Zachariah  and  other  prophets,  warriors 
and  saints.  Although  there  is  no  tangible  evidence  of 
their  authenticity,  they  are  all  certainly  very  old  and 
some  of  them  may  actually  be  what  they  are  repre¬ 
sented.  A  monolith  cut  out  of  the  living  rock,  twenty- 
one  feet  high,  nineteen  and  a  half  feet  square,  is  called 
the  tomb  of  Absalom,  and  the  Jews  throw  stones 
against  it  and  spit  at  it  as  they  pass  by.  The  Bible 
states  positively  that  Absalom  was  buried  in  the  woods 
where  he  fell,  but  it  also  states  that  “Absalom  in  his 
lifetime  had  taken  and  reared  up  for  himself  a  pillar, 
which  is  in  the  king’s  dale;  for  he  said,  I  have  no  son 
to  keep  my  name  in  remembrance;  and  he  called  the 
pillar  after  his  own  name,  and  it  is  called  unto  this 
day,  Absalom’s  place.”  This  monument  has  been 
known  since  the  year  333.  At  that  date  it  was  already 
old.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  it  may  be  the  pillar 
referred  to. 

Jerusalem  has  recently  been  blessed  with  a  new  and 
abundant  water  supply  drawn  from  the  famous  pools 
of  Solomon  and  conducted  for  nine  miles  through  a 
nine-inch  pipe  over  the  ruins  of  a  brick  and  stone 
aqueduct,  through  which  its  fountains  were  fed  in  the 
days  before  Babylonian  captivity.  There  was  a  scan¬ 
dal  connected  with  the  transaction,  something  about 
the  misappropriation  of  funds,  and  a  good  deal  of 
criticism  was  passed  upon  the  late  governor,  but  it  was 
such  a  remarkable  event,  so  unusual  in  a  Turkish 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


377 


administration,  that  if  he  had  secured  the  money  by 
highway  robbery  he  is  entitled  to  the  everlasting  grati¬ 
tude  of  people  who  live  here  and  thousands  who  come 
to  visit  Jerusalem. 

In  the  old  days  Jerusalem  was  abundantly  supplied 
with  water.  The  remains  of  fountains,  reservoirs  and 
aqueducts  show  this,  but  during  the  recent  centuries 
the  public  has  been  compelled  to  depend  upon  a  few 
fetid  pools  and  the  rain  water  which  ran  off  the  roofs 
into  cisterns.  Sickness  and  distress  prevailed  so 
extensively  during  a  recent  drought  that  the  governor 
was  stirred  to  action  and  purchased  the  pipe  which 
brought  the  water  from  Ain  Salah  (the  Sealed  Foun¬ 
tain),  at  the  rate  of  8,000  skins — that  is,  goat  skins — a 
day. 

The  pools  of  Solomon  are  three  reservoirs  situated 
in  a  valley  south  of  Jerusalem.  The  largest  is  582  by 
148  feet  in  size  and  48  feet  deep,  hewn  in  the  rock, 
and  lined  with  masonry.  The  second  is  423  by  159 
feet  and  38  feet  deep,  and  the  third  is  381  by  228  feet 
and  25  feet  deep,  while  the  hidden  or  sealed  fountain 
has  never  been  measured.  Solomon  refers  to  it  in  one 
of  his  songs,  where  he  says:  “My  beloved  is  like  a 
spring  shut  up,  a  fountain  sealed.”  It  is  the  subter¬ 
ranean  spring  or  reservoir  which  flows  freely  at  all 
times  of  the  year  and  appears  to  be  fed  by  an  artesian 
basin.  Archeologists  assert  that  the  aqueduct  which 
brought  the  water  to  Jerusalem  was  built  by  the 
Romans,  but  Solomon  is  still  credited  with  the  enter¬ 
prise,  and  if  he  is  entitled  to  it,  it  is  one  of  the  oldest 
of  human  structures.  The  people  of  Bethlehem  have 
been  drawing  water  from  these  pools  ever  since  Scrip¬ 
tural  times,  and  still  depend  upon  them  as  a  source  of 
supply.  Some  years  ago  the  Baroness  Burdett-Coutts 


378  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


offered  to  restore  the  aqueduct  to  Jerusalem,  which 
would  have  cost  her  in  the  neighborhood  of  $250,000, 
but  the  Turkish  authorities  actually  demanded  a  bribe 
from  her  agents  before  they  would  permit  her  to  do 
this  benevolent  act  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  The 
gentleman  who  related  the  circumstance  to  me 
remarked  that  the  authorities  did  not  comprehend  the 
irony  of  the  situation,  but  were  so  accustomed  to 
demanding  baksheesh  that  they  did  it  as  a  matter  of 
habit.  The  baroness  was  so  indignant  that  she 
withdrew  the  proposition. 

In  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Second  Kings  we  are 
told  that  King  Hezekiah  digged  a  pool  and  made  a 
conduit  and  brought  water  into  the  city.  The  pool  is 
still  in  good  preservation,  in  constant  use,  and  is  in 
the  center  of  the  city,  among  the  bazaars  and  next  to 
the  monastery  of  the  Copt  priests.  It  is  a  great  basin 
in  the  natural  rock,  250  by  140  feet  in  size,  walled  up 
with  masonry,  and  was  originally  about  twenty  feet 
deep,  but  has  been  partially  filled  up  with  rubbish, 
and  the  water  is  now  not  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
feet  deep.  The  families  living  in  the  neighborhood 
come  several  times  a  day  and  dip  up  what  they  need. 

The  famous  pool  of  Siloam  is  a  nasty  place,  with 
repulsive  surroundings.  Those  who  visit  it  often 
wonder  if  the  familiar  hymn, 

By  cool  Siloam’s  shady  rill, 

How  sweet  the  lily  grows, 

was  intended  as  satire,  as  there  is  no  rill,  and  no  shade, 
and  no  lily  would  ever  be  so  immodest  as  to  grow  in 
such  a  place.  The  Arabs  call  it  Silwan  these  days, 
and  it  is  on  the  slopes  of  the  Mount  of  Offense,  where 
Solomon  is  said  to  have  worshiped  heathen  idols, 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


379 


directly  across  from  the  gate  of  Zion.  The  Valley  of 
Kedron  lies  between.  The  pool  is  surrounded  by 
neglected  Jewish  cemeteries,  and  is  near  a  little  vil¬ 
lage  of  thirty  or  forty  miserable  houses  occupied  by 
Moslems,  who  are  notorious  thieves.  Their  ostensible 
occupation  is  to  peddle  water  from  the  Pool  of  Siloam 
among  the  families  living  in  the  neighborhood,  carry¬ 
ing  it  in  pig  or  goat  skins  on  the  backs  of  donkeys. 
The  pool  is  fed  by  several  small  springs,  but  the 
ancient  basin  of  masonry,  fifty-two  feet  long  and 
eighteen  feet  wide,  has  partially  crumbled  and  fallen 
in,  and  is  nearly  half  full  of  earth  and  rubbish.  The 
throats  of  the  springs  are  thus  choked  so  that  the 
water  in  the  pool  seldom  rises  to  the  level  of  the  waste 
trough  these  days,  and  is  therefore  stagnant  and 
usually  covered  with  a  green  scum.  Strange  to  say, 
it  is  still  considered  healthful  and  is  in  regular  use 
by  the  surrounding  population.  Near  by  is  a  mono¬ 
lith  with  an  Egyptian  inscription,  said  to  mark  the 
grave  of  one  of  the  wives  of  Solomon,  a  daughter  of 
Pharaoh. 

In  the  neighborhood  is  the  leper  hospital  erected  by 
the  Turkish  government,  a  substantial  building 
equipped  with  modern  improvements  and  comforts, 
but  the  lepers  do  not  like  it.  They  prefer  to  beg  their 
living  in  the  open  air. 

A  little  farther  down  is  a  venerable  mulberry  tree, 
protected  by  a  stone  wall,  under  which  the  Prophet 
Isaiah  is  said  to  have  been  sawn  asunder  in  the  pres¬ 
ence  of  King  Manasseh.  This  tradition  of  his  martyr¬ 
dom  is  referred  to  by  the  fathers  of  the  church  in  the 
early  chronicles. 

There  are  several  other  springs  in  the  locality.  One 
is  called  Mary’s  Well,  because  the  Holy  Virgin  is  said 


380  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

to  have  washed  the  swaddling  clothes  of  the  Savior  in 
it,  until  after  her  purification. 

The  government  of  Jerusalem  is  no  better  than  that 
of  any  other  Turkish  city.  In  other  words,  it  is  just 
as  bad  as  it  can  be.  The  officials  are  extortionate, 
corrupt  and  tyrannical  and  hold  their  offices  for  the 
sake  of  the  plunder.  Dishonesty  prevails  in  every 
quarter.  It  is  even  possible  to  buy  postage  stamps  by 
the  quantity  at  a  considerable  discount  from  private 
brokers,  who  obtain  them  from  thieves  in  the  post- 
office.  The  mails  are  so  untrustworthy  that  three  of 
the  European  nations  have  been  compelled  to  establish 
independent  postal  services  that  are  patronized  by 
foreigners. 

The  bazaars  are  quite  interesting  and  are  similar  to 
those  found  in  all  of  the  Eastern  cities.  They  present 
no  special  features  except  that  they  deal  largely  in 
religious  goods  and  relics,  rosaries  and  beads  of  every 
imaginable  material  and  color,  crucifixes  and  crosses, 
shells  and  stones  with  Scripture  scenes  rudely  por¬ 
trayed  upon  them,  castile  soap  made  in  Jerusalem, 
glass  beads  which  protect  the  wearer  against  the  evil 
eye,  all  kinds  of  articles  made  of  olive  wood,  mother 
of  pearl,  coral  and  a  black  volcanic  stone  brought  from 
the  Dead  Sea.  A  very  large  and  profitable  trade  is 
done  in  these  articles  with  the  pilgrims. 

The  dogs  of  Jerusalem  are  even  more  of  a  nuisance 
than  those  of  Constantinople.  They  are  half-starved, 
mangy  creatures,  many  of  them  covered  with  sores 
and  others  crippled  and  half-blind,  which  suggests  that 
the  Mohammedans  or  some  other  portion  of  the  popu¬ 
lation  have  violated  the  injunctions  of  the  prophet  con¬ 
cerning  kindness  to  beasts. 

Sore  eyes  seem  to  be  epidemic  among  the  people, 


THE  HOLY  CITY 


38i 


which  is  said  to  be  due  to  the  glare  of  the  sun  upon 
the  desert  sands,  but  I  think  their  filthy  habits  are 
responsible  for  a  good  deal.  Two  ophthalmic  hos¬ 
pitals  are  maintained  by  the  Christians  for  the  benefit 
of  the  sufferers. 

Jerusalem  is  altogether  an  unlovely,  uncomfortable 
and  repulsive  place,  and  no  one  can  come  here  with¬ 
out  regret.  There  is  no  hope  for  improvement  as  long 
as  it  remains  under  the  control  of  the  Turk  and  the 
followers  of  Christ  continue  to  show  such  vicious  and 
un-Christian  jealousy  toward  each  other.  If  some 
nation  possessed  of  the  gift  of  government,  like  Eng¬ 
land,  Germany  or  Austria,  might  take  possession  of 
those  holy  scenes  and  administer  affairs  in  a  liberal, 
enlightened  and  just  manner  it  would  be  the  crowning 
glory  of  the  twentieth  century.  There  is  no  reason 
why  the  earthly  center  of  Christendom  should  not 
resemble  the  New  Jerusalem  which  St.  John  describes 
in  the  Apocalypse: 

“There  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  anything  that 
defileth,  neither  whatsoever  worketh  abomination,  or 
maketh  a  lie. 


A  JEW  OK  JERUSALEM 


XX 

The  J  ews  of  Jerusalem 


383 


J 


* 


\ 


XX 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 

David,  the  psalmist,  said:  “As  the  mountains  are 
round  about  Jerusalem,  so  is  the  Lord  round  about  His 
people.’’  But  this  was  not  an  exact  statement.  There 
are  no  mountains  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jerusalem. 
There  are  several  rocky,  barren  hills,  but  only  three — 
Neby-Samwil,  Er-Ram  and  Tuliel  el-Ful — rise  to  any 
considerable  elevation,  and  they  are  only  ten  or  twelve 
hundred  feet  above  the  city.  The  nearest  peaks  are 
among  the  mountains  of  Moab,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  Jordan,  perhaps  fifty  miles  distant.  In  their  pic¬ 
turesque  language  the  Jews  call  them  “the  Mountains 
of  the  Other  Side,”  or  “the  Mountains  that  are 
Across” — very  expressive  terms,  illustrating  how  the 
river  Jordan  was  interwoven  into  the  poetry,  the  relig¬ 
ion  and  the  nomenclature  of  Israel.  I  suppose  the 
psalmist  was  using  the  ordinary  poetic  license  when 
he  referred  to  the  hills  about  the  city  as  mountains, 
for,  as  he  suggests,  they  are  really  a  protection,  a 
shelter  against  nature  and  might  be  a  defense  against 
invasion,  if  properly  fortified.  Mount  Olivet  is  the 
highest  hill  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  but  it  is 
only  180  feet  above  the  summit  of  Mount  Zion, 
although  a  deep  valley  lies  between  them. 

Jerusalem  occupies  the  summit  of  a  limestone  hill 
and  is  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by  a 
depression  called  the  Cheesemonger’s  Valley,  which 
commences  near  the  famous  old  Damascus  Gate  in  the 
north  part  of  the  city,  shallow  and  broad  at  first,  but 

3S5 


386  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

deepening  rapidly  as  its  course  extends,  until  it 
reaches  the  Kedron  River,  near  the  Pool  of  Siloam. 
The  two  ridges  thus  formed  are  nearly  parallel  and 
almost  of  the  same  height.  The  eastern,  looking 
toward  Olivet,  is  called  Mount  Moriah,  and  was  the 
site  of  Solomon’s  Temple.  The  western  is  Zion,  the 
hill  sacred  to  David,  where  his  palace  stood  and  where 
he  offered  sacrifices.  The  Cheesemonger’s  Valley  is 
well  built  over.  Every  inch  of  the  land  is  occupied  by 
solid  masonry. 

On  the  ridge  of  Zion,  lower  down  the  slope,  lies  the 
Jewish  quarter  of  the  city,  where  from  5,000  to  8,000 
people,  men,  women  and  children,  are  packed  into 
loathsome  tenements,  reeking  with  filth,  offensive  to 
the  eye  and  the  nostrils.  This  quarter  was  once  cov¬ 
ered  with  palaces  and  synagogues,  some  of  the  finest 
edifices  in  Jerusalem;  but  in  any  city  of  Europe  or 
America  it  would  be  condemned  as  a  plague  spot  and  a 
peril  to  the  public  health.  There  are  several  syna¬ 
gogues,  belonging  to  the  Ashkenazim,  who  are  of 
Polish  and  German  origin  and  under  the  protection  of 
their  consuls;  and  the  Sephardim  sects,  who  come  from 
Spain  and  Portugal,  but  are  Turkish  subjects;  a  hospice 
for  Jewish  pilgrims,  a  free  dispensary  and  a  hospital 
and  several  schools. 

The  population  of  Jerusalem  is  supposed  to  be  about 
60,000,  although  there  is  no  census,  and  this  is  prob¬ 
ably  a  low  figure.  Some  competent  authorities  assert 
that  at  least  75,000  people  live  within  the  walls  and  in 
the  immediate  suburbs.  Of  these,  two-thirds  or  three- 
fourths  are  Jews.  The  Moslems  number  about  12,000, 
the  Roman  Catholics  5,000,  the  Orthodox  Greeks  8,000, 
the  Armenians  800,  the  Protestants  1,400,  the  Copts 
100,  the  Abyssinians  100  and  all  the  other  races  and 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM  387 

kingdoms  of  the  earth  are  represented,  mostly  by 
religious  communities. 

A  considerable  part  of  the  population  of  the  Jewish 
quarter  talk  the  Spanish  language  and  retain  the  cus¬ 
toms  and  habits  they  have  inherited  from  their  ances¬ 
tors,  who  were  expelled  from  Spanish  territory  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  The  number  of  Jews  now  in 
Jerusalem  is  a  subject  of  dispute,  but  it  exceeds  30,000. 
Some  authorities  assert  that  they  constitute  at  least 
three-fourths  and  perhaps  four-fifths  of  the  population, 
although,  theoretically,  they  are  forbidden  to  live 
here.  The  Jewish  colony  has  doubled  during  the  last 
twenty-five  years.  Immigration  has  increased  rapidly 
in  spite  of  the  regulations  prohibiting  it,  and  most  of 
the  newcomers  are  dependent  upon  the  charity  of 
their  European  brethren.  Many  who  have  been  great 
sinners  elsewhere  come  here  to  purge  their  souls  by 
fasting,  prayer  and  devotion,  but  a  considerable 
number  of  the  Jewish  community  are  engaged  in  busi¬ 
ness  and  are  self-supporting.  There  are  more  than 
seventy  synagogues  in  Jerusalem,  and  even  a  larger 
number  of  schools.  The  late  Sir  Moses  Montefiore, 
several  members  of  the  Rothschild  family,  the  late 
Baron  Hirsch  and  other  benevolent  millionaires  have 
donated  an  enormous  amount  of  money  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  their  poor  brethren  in  Jerusalem  and 
gratify  the  desire  of  their  souls  to  be  buried  on  Mount 
Olivet,  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  or  in  the  sacred 
soil  of  Zion.  They  have  established  hospitals,  orphan¬ 
ages,  training  schools  which  are  said  to  be  the  best  in 
the  East,  and  other  institutions  for  the  care  of  the  poor 
and  afflicted. 

Outside  the  city  gates  is  a  modern  settlement  of  Jews 
called  the  Zion  suburb,  composed  of  handsome  and 


388  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

comfortable  houses,  which  offer  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  ancient  quarter  in  the  city.  Here  the  streets  are 
swept  daily,  and  are  as  clean  as  those  of  any  village  in 
New  England.  The  tenements  are  divided  into  com¬ 
modious  and  convenient  apartments,  with  plenty  of 
sunshine  and  fresh  air.  Gardens  are  frequent  and  are 
well  kept.  There  is  a  Jewish  hotel  surrounded  by 
handsome  grounds,  and  a  seminary  for  teachers  which 
is  admirable  in  every  respect.  Most  of  these  buildings 
are  crowded,  however,  the  increase  in  the  population 
exceeding  the  accommodations.  The  occupants  of 
the  tenements  take  in  lodgers  and  pack  them  away  as 
closely  as  possible,  until  the  Zion  suburb  will  soon  be 
as  densely  settled  as  sanitary  conditions  will  permit. 
A  sharp  line  is  drawn  between  the  members  of  the 
different  sects.  They  are  as  bitter  and  determined  in 
their  animosity  as  the  Greek  and  Roman  Catholics, 
and  each  regards  the  other  as  an  intruder  in  Zion.  If 
the  legal  restrictions  were  removed;  if  Jews  were  able 
to  come  into  this  country,  buy  property  and  engage  in 
business,  they  would  soon  solve  the  Zionist  problem, 
so  far  as  the  cities  are  concerned.  Altogether  they 
are  the  objects  of  greatest  interest  in  Palestine,  when 
you  consider  their  present  condition  and  surroundings 
in  the  light  of  history  and  their  Biblical  connections. 

Dr.  Herzl  and  other  members  of  the  committee  of 
Zionists  who  are  trying  to  re-people  Palestine  with 
Jews  have  submitted  to  the  sultan  a  proposition  which, 
if  adopted  and  carried  out,  will  not  only  relieve  the 
members  of  that  race  now  in  Palestine  from  the  cruel 
exactions  and  restrictions  they  suffer  to-day,  but  will 
go  far  to  restore  prosperity  to  Zion.  They,  more  than 
the  other  races,  are  oppressed  by  taxation  and  black¬ 
mail.  The  local  officials  usually  require  them  to  pay 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


389 


one-tenth  of  all  they  produce  as  taxes,  and  often  seize 
one-half  or  two-thirds  of  their  crops  or  any  property 
of  value  that  may  come  within  reach  of  the  rapacious 
collectors.  It  is  very  difficult  for  a  Jew  to  do  business 
in  Palestine  for  this  reason.  The  local  authorities  feel 
at  liberty  to  help  themselves  to  anything  he  has.  He 
has  no  protection  in  the  courts  or  from  any  other 
source,  because  technically  he  has  no  right  in  the 
country,  and  hence  the  police  officials  can  rob  and 
blackmail  him  without  mercy.  This  is  said  to  be  one 
of  the  reasons  why  the  Jews  live  in  such  wretched 
houses  and  such  squalor  all  over  Palestine.  Some  rich 
men  have  been  able  to  protect  themselves  by  paying 
blackmail.  One  Jew  in  Jerusalem  is  credited  with 
several  millions  of  dollars,  which  he  has  made  con¬ 
tracting  with  the  government  and  with  private  persons, 
making  loans  and  speculating  in  various  ways.  He 
has  the  confidence  of  the  authorities,  and  it  is  said 
that  they  prefer  to  trade  with  him  rather  than  with  any 
other  person.  For  reasons  that  may  possibly  occur  to 
the  mind  of  the  reader  other  competitors  had  no 
chance  with  him  in  obtaining  contracts  under  the  last 
administration.  And  in  private  enterprises  also,  not¬ 
withstanding  the  oppressions  and  outrages  inflicted 
upon  them,  the  Jews  are  gradually  pushing  the  Mos¬ 
lems  and  Christians  out  of  their  way.  In  Christian 
street,  where  they  were  not  allowed  to  set  foot  a  few 
years  ago,  they  control  three-fourths  of  the  business 
places.  Even  now  they  are  prohibited  from  approach¬ 
ing  the  farther  end  of  the  street  which  leads  to  the 
Holy  Sepulcher.  There  is  no  law  against  it,  but  the 
fanatics  would  beat  or  kill  them. 

During  the  last  fifteen  years  Jewish  families  have 
not  been  allowed  to  buy  land.  They  are  not  allowed 


390  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

to  hold  property  and  theoretically  are  prohibited  from 
living  in  the  country.  Much  Jewish  property  is  held 
by  trustees  to  evade  the  government;  much  business 
is  done  by  Jews  in  the  names  of  Turks,  and  they  con¬ 
tinue  to  increase  by  immigration.  It  is  supposed  that 
they  bribe  the  custom-house  inspectors  to  admit  them 
at  the  ports. 

But  there  are  no  chances  for  young  men  either  in 
trade  or  the  industries,  and  those  who  have  enterprise 
and  ambition  must  go  out  into  the  world  and  find 
something  to  do.  Hence  a  stream  of  young  Jews  is 
leaving  Palestine  nearly  as  large  as  the  stream  of  old 
men  that  is  coming  in.  They  are  the  best  class  of  the 
population,  progressive  and  intelligent  men.  They  go 
to  Australia,  South  Africa  and  the  United  States.  The 
most  undesirable  class  remain  and  are  still  coming  in 
large  numbers,  prompted  by  piety  to  seek  graves  in 
the  sacred  soil,  to  escape  persecution  in  other  coun¬ 
tries,  and  attracted  by  the  comprehensive  charitable 
systems  in  vogue  here.  Every  Jew  knows  that  if  he 
comes  to  Zion  he  will  be  cared  for,  for  not  only  his 
people,  but  all  the  Christian  sects  have  hospitals  and 
other  benevolent  institutions  for  his  benefit.  No  Jews 
are  ever  converted  to  Christianity.  Palestine  is  the 
last  place  in  the  world  that  such  a  thing  ought  to  be 
expected,  for  religious  as  well  as  racial  reasons,  and 
the  funds  derived  from  legacies  for  the  conversion  of 
the  Jews  are  used  for  schools  and  charities. 

A  fine  technical  school  in  the  Jewish  quarter  outside 
the  walls,  as  good  as  any  in  the  United  States,  is  train¬ 
ing  artisans  and  engineers,  but  Palestine  can  absorb 
only  a  few  of  them.  There  is  comparatively  a  small 
demand  for  such  talent.  They  find  more  inviting 
fields  in  Egypt,  the  Sudan,  the  Transvaal  and  other 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM  391 

parts  of  Africa  and  Australia,  Canada  and  the  United 
States. 

The  proposition  to  which  I  refer  as  having  been  sub¬ 
mitted  to  the  sultan  by  Dr.  Herzl  provides  for  farming 
out  the  taxes  due  from  all  the  Jews  in  Palestine  to  the 
Colonial  Bank.  That  institution  agrees  to  assume  the 
responsibility  of  collecting  10  per  cent  of  the  incomes 
of  all  the  Jews  in  Palestine  and  paying  the  money  in 
quarterly  installments  directly  to  the  sultan  without 
the  intervention  of  the  local  officials.  In  that  way  the 
latter  will  have  no  power  to  oppress  and  blackmail, 
and  on  the  other  hand  the  sultan  will  receive  annually 
a  considerable  sum,  which  would  increase  very  rapidly 
if  they  were  free  to  do  business  like  other  people. 
Payments  would  be  certain  and  regular,  hence  one 
would  suppose  that  the  sultan  would  look  upon  the 
plan  favorably,  for  at  present  he  receives  a  compar¬ 
atively  small  amount  of  the  taxes  wrung  from  the 
Jews.  Most  of  the  money  sticks  to  the  hands  of  his 
subordinates. 

The  Jews  think  that  such  an  arrangement  would  be 
greatly  for  their  welfare,  provided  other  restrictions 
now  imposed  upon  them  were  removed,  so  that  they 
could  buy  land,  invest  capital,  establish  industries  and 
engage  in  business  enterprises.  This  would  make 
them  practically  independent,  like  the  Maronites  in 
Syria,  who  have  their  own  officials  and  pay  their  taxes 
in  lump.  The  Druses  are  demanding  the  same  priv¬ 
ileges,  and  will  be  restless  until  they  obtain  them,  and 
if  the  Maronites  and  Druses  are  given  semi-independ¬ 
ence  there  is  no  reason  why  the  Jews  should  not  enjoy 
the  same  benefits.  It  would  be  a  great  thing  for  Pales¬ 
tine,  and  go  far  to  realize  Zionism. 

But  the  sultan  is  very  suspicious.  He  talks  favor- 


392  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


ably,  but  does  nothing,  for  the  arrangement  proposed 
is  in  direct  violation  of  his  policy  of  suppression.  It 
would  give  the  Jews  wealth,  which  would  give  them 
power,  which  would  make  them  independent  and 
aggressive,  whereas  they  will  remain  submissive  if  kept 
poor.  The  policy  of  the  sultan’s  government  is  against 
all  public  and  private  improvements  and  progress  of 
every  kind.  It  is  the  strangest  anomaly  in  the  twen¬ 
tieth  century — a  sovereign  who  prefers  his  people  to 
be  poor,  wretched  and  ignorant,  because  he  can  gov¬ 
ern  them  best  that  way.  If  they  were  otherwise  they 
might  not  submit  to  his  tyranny.  They  would  have 
money  to  buy  arms  and  the  spirit  to  resist,  and  would 
be  likely  to  attract  the  attention  and  provoke  the  inter¬ 
vention  of  other  nations.  Another  unsurmountable 
objection  is  the  dissatisfaction  such  an  arrangement 
would  cause  among  the  officials,  who  now  are  able  to 
line  their  pockets  by  blackmail,  and  other  exactions. 
The  sultan  is  afraid  of  them;  and  he  realizes  that  any 
scheme  which  would  protect  the  Jews  from  their 
rapacity  would  be  exceedingly  unpopular.  Therefore 
those  who  are  familiar  with  the  disposition  of  Abdul 
Hamid  have  no  confidence  that  he  will  consent  to  Dr. 
Herzl’s  scheme. 

The  saddest  sight  in  Jerusalem  is  the  wailing  of  the 
Jews  over  the  ruins  of  the  temple.  It  has  become  a 
good  deal  of  a  formality,  however,  and  attracts  large 
numbers  of  spectators,  who  sit  around  upon  benches 
prepared  for  them,  laughing,  smoking  and  taking  snap 
shots  with  their  kodaks  in  an  irreverent  way,  while  a 
touching  custom,  which  has  prevailed  for  centuries,  is 
observed.  The  wailing  place  is  at  an  ancient  gate 
called  the  Gate  of  the  Prophets,  and  under  a  retain¬ 
ing  wall  erected  by  the  Romans,  probably  upon  foun- 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


393 


dations  laid  by  Solomon  to  sustain  the  terrace  upon 
which  the  great  temple  stood.  It  is  partially  hidden 
by  excavations,  and  reached  by  a  narrow  winding  road 
through  the  Jewish  quarter.  The  ceremony  takes 
place  every  Friday  afternoon  between  4  o’clock  and 
sundown,  and  also  upon  certain  festivals,  when  200  or 
300  Jews  assemble,  many  of  them  barefooted  and  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes,  and  weep  and  wail,  kiss  the  stones 
of  the  wall  and  bemoan  the  downfall  of  Jerusalem. 

All  Jews  were  expelled  from  Jerusalem  after  their 
revolt  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Hadrian,  and 
were  not  allowed  to  enter  the  city  until  the  time  of 
Constantine,  200  years  later.  He  permitted  them  to 
enter  it  once  a  year  on  the  anniversary  of  its  destruc¬ 
tion  by  Titus  for  the  purpose  of  weeping  over  the  ruins 
of  the  temple,  and  for  this  privilege  they  were  obliged 
to  pay  heavy  blackmail  to  the  Roman  governors.  In 
course  of  time  the  wailing  ceremony  was  permitted 
once  each  week  in  return  for  larger  payments,  until  it 
became  a  fixed  practice,  and  ever  since  the  Jews  have 
met  and  gone  through  with  a  ritual,  which  includes 
portions  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  Psalms  of  David 
and  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah.  The  litany  runs 
something  as  follows: 

Rabbi — For  the  palace  that  lies  desolate. 

Response — We  sit  in  solitude  and  mourn. 

Rabbi — For  the  palace  that  is  destroyed. 

Response — We  sit  in  solitude  and  mourn,  etc. 

Rabbi — Jehovah,  we  pray  Thee,  have  mercy  on  Zion. 

Response — Have  mercy,  have  mercy;  oh,  gather  the  children 
of  Jerusalem. 

Rabbi — Haste,  oh!  haste,  Redeemer  of  Zion. 

Response — Comfort  the  hearts  of  Jerusalem. 

The  Jews  who  participate  in  this  ceremony  are  very 
old  and  have  a  patriarchal  appearance.  You  seldom 


394  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

see  a  young  man  in  the  company  of  mourners,  and  the 
Spanish  Jews  can  be  distinguished  from  those  from 
Poland  and  Russia  by  their  dress.  Their  general 
appearance  is  much  superior.  Several  families  in 
Jerusalem  claim  to  have  lived  there  from  the  time  of 
David,  but  their  pretensions  are  denied  by  others,  and 
it  is  the  prevailing  belief  among  the  most  learned  his¬ 
torians  that  none  of  them  date  farther  back  than  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  Jewish  population  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem  has  been  practically  exterminated  several  times  in 
the  Christian  era.  Farther  north,  Tiberius,  Safed  and 
other  towns  which  were  fortunate  enough  to  escape  the 
ravages  of  the  crusaders,  the  Saracens  and  the  Turks, 
have  remained  undisturbed  from  the  time  of  the 
exodus  from  Egypt.  Their  people  preserve  the 
ancient  customs  and  are  tenacious  in  following  the 
habits  of  the  race.  The  Jews  living  east  of  the  Jordan 
are  even  older.  There  many  families  live  upon  the 
same  lands  that  were  assigned  them  by  Joshua.  But 
the  Arabs  are  still  older.  They  are  descended  from 
Ishmael  and  Esau  and  have  remained  with  their  flocks 
and  herds  in  the  pastures  taken  up  by  their  patriarchal 
ancestors.  The  Druses  are  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  Phoenicians  and  still  worship  the  same  gods. 

Mr.  Zangwill  has  written  a  series  of  earnest  articles 
upon  the  commercial  opportunities  of  Palestine,  in¬ 
tended  to  demonstrate  the  practicability  of  Zionism  and 
to  prove  that  there  is  plenty  of  room  and  plenty  of  oppor¬ 
tunities  in  the  Ploly  Land  for  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  Jews  now  scattered  throughout  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Although  I  cannot  confirm  all  Mr.  Zangwill’s  statis¬ 
tics  and  arguments,  there  is  nevertheless  a  great  deal 
of  truth  in  them,  and  under  certain  conditions  his 
sanguine  hopes  for  his  race  might  be  realized.  It  is 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


395 


true,  as  he  states,  that  a  large  area  in  the  valley  of  the 
Jordan  might  be  devoted  to  sugar  cane,  but  he  does 
not  appear  to  have  realized  that  immense  sums  of 
money  must  be  expended  upon  the  construction  of 
irrigation  systems,  which  have  so  far  baffled  engineer¬ 
ing  skill.  The  scarcity  of  water  is  an  insurmountable 
drawback;  the  bed  of  the  Jordan  is  so  much  below  the 
surface  that  pumping  machines  would  be  required  to 
lift  the  water  up  to  distributing  reservoirs.  It  is  also 
true  that  the  climate  along  the  Jordan  is  almost 
intolerable  and  cannot  be  endured  by  people  who  are 
not  born  there.  Similar  objections  may  be  raised  to 
nearly  all  of  the  hopeful  propositions  which  Mr.  Zang- 
will  advances.  But  the  experiment  could  be  fairly 
tried  by  the  expenditure  of  less  than  half  as  much 
money  as  has  been  wasted  upon  the  colonization 
scheme  of  Baron  Rothschild  and  other  Jewish  philan¬ 
thropists. 

Jerusalem  is  a  great  place  for  cranks,  particularly 
those  of  religious  tendencies.  People  who  have  vis¬ 
ions  and  possess  the  gift  of  prophecy,  who  have  dis¬ 
covered  new  ways  of  salvation  and  methods  by  which 
they  may  live  without  sin,  seem  to  flock  here  as  the 
moths  seek  the  light.  Some  come  in  clubs  and  asso¬ 
ciations,  others  as  individuals.  Many  of  them  are 
actually  insane  and  possessed  of  peculiar  delusions. 
There  used  to  be  an  old  sailor  here  who  went  around 
through  the  principal  streets  day  after  day  carrying  a 
heavy  cross.  He  was  doing  penance  for  some  great 
sin  he  had  committed,  and  it  would  be  a  satisfaction 
to  know  whether  he  obtained  absolution  before  he 
died.  Then  there  was  a  man  who  bought  a  lamb  every 
morning  and  sacrificed  it,  giving  the  skin  and  the  meat 
to  the  poor.  His  place  of  sacrifice  was  on  a  rock  out- 


396  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

side  the  walls,  and  a  crowd  was  there  awaiting  him 
whenever  he  came  with  his  offering  upon  his  back. 

There  is  an  old  woman  in  Jerusalem  now — and  she 
is  said  to  be  rich,  for  she  lives  in  a  comfortable  house 
and  seems  to  have  plenty  of  money — who  considers  it 
her  mission  to  relieve  the  hunger  and  the  distress  of 
all  the  Ishmaelitish  dogs.  She  goes  out  daily  with 
baskets  of  bread  and  meat  to  feed  them,  and  if  she  can 
catch  one  of  the  mongrel  curs  with  which  the  streets 
are  haunted  she  takes  him  home,  washes  him  with  car¬ 
bolic  acid  and  other  disinfectants  and  then  turns  him 
loose.  But  she  never  gets  the  same  dog  twice. 
Although  they  like  the  food  she  brings  them,  they  do 
not  relish  the  other  attentions. 

The  Moslems,  like  the  North  American  Indians, 
consider  a  lunatic  sacred,  and  any  man  who  comes 
herewith  marked  eccentricities  is  absolutely  safe,  safer 
than  if  he  had  an  escort  of  the  sultan’s  bodyguard. 

An  Englishman,  named  Graybill,  owns  a  large  estate 
upon  the  slopes  of  Mount  Olivet,  where  he  has  a  hand¬ 
some .  residence  and  spends  much  of  his  time.  He  is 
opposed  to  Christian  missionaries  and  cultivates  the 
Mohammedans,  although  he  does  not  profess  their 
faith.  He  gives  his  money  freely  for  the  relief  of 
Mohammedan  miseries,  but  will  not  contribute  to  any 
Christian  cause.  Not  long  ago  the  Arabs  in  a  neigh¬ 
boring  village,  being  deeply  in  debt,  were  about  to  be 
sold  out.  They  came  to  him  for  advice  and  assist¬ 
ance.  He  furnished  them  sufficient  funds  to  meet  all 
their  obligations  and  to  improve  their  town. 

The  late  Lord  Bute,  a  famous  English  nobleman, 
who  is  supposed  to  have  sat  for  the  portrait  of  Lothair 
in  Lord  Beaconfield’s  novel,  and  was  a  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic,  also  owned  a  fine  estate  on  Mount  Olivet,  with  a 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


397 


little  chapel  attached  to  his  villa.  When  he  died  his 
heart  was  placed  in  an  urn  upon  the  altar  and  his  body 
was  buried  in  Scotland. 

Father  Euthuynus,  abbot  of  the  Greek  monks,  is  the 
richest  man  in  Jerusalem,  and  has  some  of  the  talents 
of  Midas,  according  to  the  popular  impression,  as 
everything  he  touches  turns  to  gold.  He  is  a  famous 
speculator  and  is  credited  with  making  large  sums  of 
money  upon  the  bourses  of  Paris  and  Vienna.  He 
owns  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  neighborhood  of  Jeru¬ 
salem  and  blocks  of  houses  both  inside  and  outside  the 
walls.  Nearly  all  of  the  tenements  in  the  Zion  suburb 
and  the  handsome  residences  around  the  Russian 
hospice  belong  to  him,  and  it  is  expected  that  upon 
his  death  his  entire  estate  will  go  to  the  Greek  church. 

Father  Euthuynus  has  recently  had  a  setback,  how¬ 
ever.  Through  the  Russian  ambassador  at  Constan¬ 
tinople  he  obtained  a  firman  from  the  sultan  permitting 
him  to  place  a  steamboat  upon  the  Dead  Sea  for  the 
accommodation  of  tourists  and  for  the  transportation 
of  freight  in  competition  with  the  camel  trains.  The 
boat  was  built  in  Alexandria,  transported  to  Jaffa  in 
sections  by  steamer,  and  to  Jerusalem  by  rail.  Thence 
it  was  carted  upon  wagons  to  the  shores  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  where  it  was  put  together,  launched  and  found  to 
be  in  fine  working  order.  But  the  governor  of  the 
province  forbade  the  good  father  to  engage  in  the 
transportation  business  and  called  his  attention  to 
the  terms  of  the  firman  granted  him  by  the  sultan. 
That  document  was  perfectly  clear.  It  gave  Father 
Euthuynus  permission  to  place  a  steamboat  upon  the 
Dead  Sea,  but  did  not  authorize  him  to  operate  it, 
and  the  governor  asserted  that  the  latter  proposition 
was  to  be  decided  solely  by  himself.  On  the  ground 


398  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

of  high  public  policy  he  ordered  the  little  steamboat 
to  be  tied  up  to  a  stake,  because  if  it  were  allowed  to 
carry  freight  it  would  interfere  with  the  honest  earn¬ 
ings  of  the  camel  drivers  of  Moab  and  the  Valley  of 
Jordan,  and  if  it  were  allowed  to  be  used  by  tourists  it 
would  ruin  the  Arab  peasant  who  now  owns  a  little 
sailboat  which  will  carry  four  or  five  persons  at  a  time 
and  is  used  for  that  purpose.  It  was  intimated  to 
Brother  Euthuynus  that  the  governor  might  possibly 
review  and  perhaps  reverse  his  original  decision  if 
certain  suitable  arguments  were  used,  but  the  abbot 
tied  up  his  money  bags  and  thus  far  has  declined  to 
pay  baksheesh.  The  governor  was  naturally  offended 
at  his  independence,  and  it  is  believed  that  this  little 
transaction  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  incidents 
which  finally  culminated  in  a  riot  at  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher  in  1901  between  the  Greek  and  the 
Roman  Catholic  monks.  The  governor  was  held 
responsible  by  the  sultan  for  that  row,  and  upon  the 
demand  of  the  French  ambassador  at  Constantinople 
was  removed  from  office,  but  was  immediately 
promoted  to  a  higher  rank  and  appointed  to  a  more 
important  post. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  American  Institute  of 
Archeology,  there  has  been  recently  established  at 
Jerusalem  a  school  for  Oriental  languages,  Biblical  his¬ 
tory  and  archeology  and  for  original  investigation, 
which  is  especially  advantageous  to  clergymen  and 
others  interested  in  Scripture  study.  Professor  Shailer 
Matthews  of  the  University  of  Chicago  annually  escorts 
a  class  of  students  through  Palestine  for  a  couple  of 
months  in  the  spring,  visiting  most  of  the  important 
places,  for  the  purpose  of  studying  Biblical  history 
upon  the  ground.  But  the  American  school  is 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


399 


intended  to  be  permanent,  and,  under  the  direction  of 
Prof.  H.  D.  Mitchell  of  the  theological  faculty  of  Bos¬ 
ton  University,  has  already  driven  its  stakes,  begun 
work,  and  offers  advantages  which  have  never  before 
been  allowed  American  students  in  the  Holy  Land. 
The  school  is  supported  by  twenty  or  thirty  different 
universities,  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  in  the 
United  States,  which  contribute  a  stated  sum  every  year, 
and  by  voluntary  gifts  from  individuals  especially 
interested  in  its  work.  But  I  notice  that  most  of  the 
regular  contributors  are  Eastern  institutions.  While 
the  schools  of  archeology  and  history  in  Rome  and 
Athens  are  mainly  supported  by  Western  enterprise  in 
the  United  States,  this  Biblical  school  in  Palestine  has 
no  contributors  west  of  Cornell,  except  the  Hebrew 
College  at  Cincinnati.  An  effort  is  being  made  to 
secure  a  permanent  endowment  of  $200,000,  the  income 
to  be  expended  in  original  research  in  Palestine, 
explorations  and  excavations  to  be  done  under  the 
direction  of  the  American  school. 

The  Germans  are  about  to  establish  a  similar  school 
at  Jerusalem  under  the  auspices  of  the  University  of 
Berlin.  The  English  already  have  one  and  are  mak¬ 
ing  some  important  excavations  among  the  ruins  of 
the  old  City  of  Gezer,  which  was  given  to  Solomon  by 
Pharaoh  with  his  daughter  as  a  bride’s  dowry.  The 
story  is  told  in  the  tenth  chapter  of  Joshua.  The  stu¬ 
dents  of  the  American  College  have  the  advantage  of 
several  other  schools  and  museums  at  Jerusalem.  The 
Greek  patriarch  offers  them  the  privileges  of  his 
library,  with  a  remarkable  collection  of  manuscripts. 
The  Dominican  monks  are  doing  much  to  encourage 
archeological  investigation,  and  among  them  are 
some  very  active  and  able  scholars.  At  their  school 


4oo  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

in  Jerusalem  courses  of  lectures  are  given  every  winter 
upon  subjects  connected  with  the  history  and  antiquities 
of  Palestine,  to  which  the  American  students  are 
invited.  A  Mohammedan  school  near  the  gate  of 
Herod  is  also  doing  some  good  work,  and  several 
small  museums  recently  started  in  the  city  will  be 
found  useful  as  well  as  interesting  to  inquirers  into  the 
prehistoric  conditions  in  the  Holy  Land. 

The  trustees  of  the  American  College  have  not  yet 
succeeded  in  securing  an  imperial  irade  authorizing 
their  undertaking,  and  judging  by  the  experience  of 
others  it  will  take  them  several  years  to  do  so.  There 
are  several  prominent  educational  institutions  of  long 
standing,  founded  and  conducted  by  foreigners,  which 
have  never  received  any  official  authorization  nor 
suffered  for  the  lack  of  it.  Hence  Dr.  Mitchell  is 
going  ahead  with  his  work  just  as  if  the  imperial  seal 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire  lay  upon  his  writing  desk.  It 
is  proposed  to  have  two  directors  hereafter,  one  to 
remain  in  Jerusalem  and  supervise  the  work  of  the  stu¬ 
dents  there,  and  the  other  to  have  charge  of  the 
students  in  the  field  and  direct  archeological  explora¬ 
tions.  The  usefulness  of  the  institution,  however, 
depends  upon  the  liberality  of  its  friends  in  con¬ 
tributing  funds  for  its  support. 

Many  young  clergymen  in  the  United  States,  and 
others  also,  for  that  matter,  will  be  glad  of  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  spend  a  year  or  two  in  Palestine  studying 
Biblical  history  and  archeology  under  competent 
direction.  The  expense  will  not  be  great.  They  can 
reach  Jerusalem  from  New  York  at  a  cost  of  not  more 
than  $250,  and  can  find  comfortable  homes  here  at  an 
expense  of  not  more  than  $2  a  day.  They  will  not  be 
able  to  enjoy  the  same  comforts  and  luxuries  they 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


401 


have  at  home,  and  will  be  exposed  to  inconveniences 
and  annoyances  that  will  only  add  more  energy  and 
zeal  in  their  work. 

Over  in  the  new  part  of  Jerusalem,  which  is  as 
different  from  the  old  part  as  one  town  may  differ 
from  another,  are  enormous  hospitals,  hospices  and 
other  institutions  for  the  care  of  pilgrims;  long  streets 
of  stores,  shops  and  comfortable  apartment  houses, 
two  or  three  stories  in  height,  built  upon  modern  plans 
with  modern  conveniences,  like  those  of  a  German  or 
a  French  city.  The  streets  are  kept  comparatively 
clean;  there  are  sewers  and  a  good  water  supply.  The 
roads  are  paved  and  the  sidewalks  laid  with  flagstones 
wide  enough  for  two  people  to  walk  abreast.  Some 
of  the  houses  are  surrounded  by  gardens  that  look  very 
attractive,  and  occasionally  through  an  open  door  one 
can  catch  a  glimpse  of  an  interior  court  with  a  foun¬ 
tain,  palms  and  flowers,  that  is  very  alluring.  In  this 
new  section  of  the  city  is  located  the  “American 
colony,”  so-called,  although  it  is  composed  of  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  seven  nations,  and  occupies  a  large  house 
erected  for  the  purpose,  with  several  smaller  houses 
around  it.  It  is  the  headquarters  of  the  religious  sect 
known  as  “The  Overcomers,”  which  removed  here 
from  Chicago  twenty  years  ago  under  the  leadership 
of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Spafford.  They  have  since  gained 
some  notoriety  at  home  because  of  legal  proceedings 
over  property  which  was  claimed  to  have  been 
bequeathed  to  the  association  by  one  of  its  members. 
The  sect  live  as  a  community.  When  a  person  joins 
he  or  she  is  expected  to  surrender  for  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  all  wealth  and  articles  of  value;  the  earnings 
of  every  member  go  into  a  common  pool,  from  which 
the  expenses  of  the  community  are  paid  pro  rata, 


402  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

without  any  special  rule.  There  is  no  organization, 
no  formally  elected  officials,  no  directors,  no  by-laws 
or  regulations,  but  everybody  is  on  an  equality  and  is 
expected  to  do  the  best  he  can  for  the  general  good. 
The  community  has  a  store  downtown,  where  tourists 
can  find  the  best  photographs,  the  best  curios,  cos¬ 
tumes,  coins  and  other  souvenirs  of  the  Holy  Land, 
and  they  are  entirely  reliable.  No  misrepresentations 
are  made,  and  there  is  only  one  price.  In  the  ordinary 
shops  of  Jerusalem  and  other  places  in  the  Holy  Land 
the  statements  of  the  native  merchants  can  never  be 
relied  upon,  and  they  always  ask  three  or  four  times 
what  an  article  is  worth,  because  they  expect  to  be 
beaten  down.  It  is  a  custom  of  the  country,  but  the 
American  store  is  conducted  on  the  American  plan, 
and  is  therefore  a  satisfactory  place  to  trade. 

Members  of  the  community,  both  men  and  women, 
are  engaged  in  manufacturing  articles  for  sale.  They 
have  a  large  photographic  establishment  to  develop 
and  make  prints  from  negatives  they  have  taken  at  all 
the  points  of  interest  in  Palestine;  they  manufacture 
all  kinds  of  musical  instruments,  weave  linen  and 
wool;  they  have  a  shoeshop  and  a  bakery  which  is  as 
neat  as  wax,  an  art  room  at  which  young  girls  are 
taught  drawing  and  painting,  to  decorate  china  and 
other  articles,  and  put  up  pressed  flowers  gathered  at 
the  holy  places.  They  are  altogether  a  very  indus¬ 
trious  little  community  of  140  people,  of  whom  twenty 
are  from  Chicago  and  the  remainder  represent  seven 
different  nations,  being  mostly  Germans  and  Swedes. 

The  community  gets  its  name  “Overcomers”  from 
that  passage  in  Revelation  which  says:  “He  that 
overcometh,  to  him  will  I  give  to  eat  of  the  Tree  of 
Life,”  and  although  their  ideas  of  the  marriage  rela- 


,  g|  2  9 


THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES  WITH  THE  TWO  GARDENS  OF  GETHSEMANE  IN  THE  FOREGROUND. 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


403 


tion  are  a  little  confusing,  they  are  given  great  credit 
by  their  neighbors  for  doing  good,  for  nursing  the 
sick,  feeding  the  hungry,  clothing  the  naked  and 
teaching  the  ignorant,  without  money,  without  price 
and  without  making  any  fuss  about  it.  As  I  under¬ 
stand  it,  the  marriage  relation  is  recognized  as  it  exists, 
but  the  younger  members  of  the  community  are  not 
encouraged  to  marry — at  least  Mrs.  Spafford,  the 
leader,  tells  me  so — and  if  that  principle  prevails,  of 
course  the  institution  will  sooner  or  later  die  out. 

The  Turkish  authorities  evidently  approve  of  the 
“Overcomers, ”  for  some  of  the  most  prominent  gov¬ 
ernment  officials  are  frequent  visitors  at  their  attrac¬ 
tive  home,  which  offers  a  smiling  contrast  to  the  filthy 
streets  and  gloomy  monasteries.  I  called  there  one 
Sunday  afternoon  and  found  the  whole  colony  gath¬ 
ered  in  groups,  drinking  tea,  eating  cakes,  singing 
songs  and  enjoying  instrumental  music.  They  seem 
to  be  happy  and  contented  and  to  be  enjoying  their 
share  of  prosperity. 

In  1865  a  French  princess,  Latour  d’ Auvergne, 
cousin  of  the  late  Emperor  Louis  Napoleon,  erected 
a  chapel  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives  and  surrounded  it 
with  a  beautiful  cloister,  in  the  walls  of  which  are 
imbedded  forty-five  marble  tablets  having  the  Lord’s 
prayer  engraved  upon  them  in  as  many  different  lan¬ 
guages.  This  graceful  and  novel  monument  is  sup¬ 
posed  to  stand  upon  the  spot  where  Jesus  sat  when  He 
taught  the  Lord’s  prayer  to  His  disciples  and  upon  the 
site  of  another  chapel  built  in  1100,  during  the  cru¬ 
sade,  which  was  afterward  destroyed  by  the  Moslems. 
In  the  center  of  the  court  is  a  life-size  marble  statue 
representing  the  princess,  and  it  was  intended  that  she 
should  be  buried  beneath  it,  but  she  died  in  France, 


404  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

and  for  some  reason  or  another  her  body  was  never 
removed  here.  Adjoining  the  chapel  is  a  small  nun¬ 
nery,  also  erected  by  the  Princess  Latour,  who  endowed 
it  handsomely  and  provided  a  sufficient  income  to  sup¬ 
port  the  sisters  in  comfort  perpetually,  but  somehow 
or  another  the  funds  have  been  misappropriated  or 
misplaced,  and  the  sisters  are  in  great  financial  dis¬ 
tress. 

At  the  Pool  of  Bethesda,  where  the  miracle  of  heal¬ 
ing  the  impotent  man  occurred,  is  a  similar  series  of 
tablets  inscribed  in  forty-five  different  languages,  with 
an  account  of  the  miracle  as  related  in  the  fifth  chap¬ 
ter  of  John,  with  which  I  hope  everybody  is  familiar. 
The  pool  is  now  called  Birket  Israel,  and  it  is  an 
immense  reservoir  360  by  130  feet  in  size,  and  it  is 
seventy  feet  from  the  top  to  the  rubbish  that  has  accu¬ 
mulated  at  the  bottom.  No  doubt  this  is  the  same 
pool  that  stood  by  the  sheep  market  in  the  days  of 
Jesus,  where  a  great  number  of  impotent  folk,  blind, 
halt  and  withered,  waited  for  the  angel  that  went  down 
at  a  certain  time  daily  and  troubled  the  water.  We 
can  see  how  difficult  it  must  have  been  for  the  impo¬ 
tent  man  to  get  into  the  pool  first  when  everybody 
would  naturally  rush  down  before  him. 

The  gate  through  which  Jesus  made  his  triumphal 
entry  into  Jerusalem  is  now  walled  up.  It  has  been 
closed  ever  since  the  time  of  the  crusaders,  but  at  one 
period,  when  there  was  a  liberal-minded  Moslem  gov¬ 
ernor  in  Jerusalem,  it  used  to  be  opened  once  a  year, 
on  Palm  Sunday,  to  permit  a  procession  to  pass 
through;  but  it  is  now  sealed  forever,  or  for  as  long  as 
Moslem  rule  continues  in  Palestine.  There  is  a  super- 
stitution  among  the  Moslems  that  Jesus  will  again 
come  through  that  gate  “at  the  end  of  the  age,”  as  He 


THE  JEWS  OF  JERUSALEM 


405 


did  before,  and  will  take  possession  not  only  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem  but  of  the  whole  world.  Said  Isa,  our  learned 
guide: 

“Mohammed  he  wall  him  up;  wall  him  up  solid. 
He  say  if  he  open  gate  he  lose  his  mosque  and  every¬ 
thing  else,  and  he  believe  that  so,  so  he  wall  him  up.” 

The  gate  is  rich  in  names.  In  the  days  of  the  apos¬ 
tles  it  was  known  as  “The  Beautiful  Gate,”  where  the 
lame  man  whom  Peter  healed  was  placed  daily  to  ask 
alms.  The  crusaders  called  it  Porta  Aurea — “the 
Golden  Gate” — and  that  is  commonly  used  to-day. 
The  Arabic  name  is  “The  Eternal  Gate,”  but  others 
call  it  the  “Gate  of  Mercy,”  and  still  more  the  “Gate 
of  Repentance.” 


\ 


XXI 

The  Tomb  of  the  Redeemer 


407 


' 


■ 


- 


■ 


XXI 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 

Everybody  who  visits  Jerusalem  wants  to  go  first  of 
all  places  to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  the 
center  and  focus  of  interest  of  the  Christian  world. 
From  the  foreign  quarter  of  the  city  it  is  reached 
through  a  series  of  narrow  and  dirty  streets,  the  pave¬ 
ments  being  slippery  with  unspeakable  filth,  and  the 
stench  nauseating.  Garbage,  slops  and  all  kinds  of 
unspeakable  offal  is  dumped  into  the  middle  of  the 
street  by  the  householders  for  the  dogs  to  eat,  the 
camels  to  trample  down  and  the  rains  to  wash  away, 
without  considering  the  public  health  or  comfort. 
You  pass  through  the  big  bazaars,  which  are  roofed 
over  and  lined  with  little  shops,  and  the  men  who  keep 
them  have  “barkers”  out  to  entice  you  to  stop  and 
examine  their  goods.  At  the  foot  of  a  sloping  path¬ 
way  between  two  formidable  walls  you  come  to  a  little 
plaza  paved  with  marble  flags  to  which  you  descend  by 
a  flight  of  three  steps.  Squatting  upon  the  pavement 
are  rows  of  beggars  with  all  sorts  of  deformities  and 
diseases,  beseeching  every  one  for  alms,  muttering 
blessings  upon  those  who  respond  and  curses  on  those 
who  refuse.  On  the  other  side  of  the  plaza  in  similar 
postures  are  peddlers  selling  beads  that  will  protect 
you  from  the  evil  eye,  rosaries  to  count  your  prayers 
on,  crosses  and  other  relics  made  of  mother  of  pearl, 
olive  wood  and  ivory,  and  all  sorts  of  medals,  amulets 
and  trinkets  of  a  religious  character.  Most  of  these 
goods  are  manufactured  at  Bethlehem  and  Hebron. 

409 


4io  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


It  is  bad  enough  that  a  Mohammedan  Turk  should 
be  the  custodian  of  the  scene  of  the  crucifixion  and 
keep  the  keys  of  His  tomb,  and  one  is  shocked  by  a 
sense  of  indignation  when  he  passes  into  the  church 
and  notices  a  squad  of  Turks  squatting  on  a  divan  in  a 
deep  recess  at  the  left  of  the  vestibule  with  expres¬ 
sions  of  contempt  and  scorn  upon  their  faces.  They 
smoke  their  pipes,  play  cards  and  other  games,  gossip 
and  tell  stories,  and  wander  about  the  sacred  shrine 
with  a  careless  indifference,  shoving  priests  as  well  as 
pilgrims  aside  in  the  rudest  manner  and  exercising 
an  air  of  authority  that  is  exasperating.  Perhaps  after 
all  it  is  an  evidence  of  the  wisdom  of  providence  that 
the  central  and  supreme  shrine  of  the  Christian  church 
should  be  in  the  possession  and  under  the  authority  of 
Islam.  The  bitterness  of  the  envy  and  rivalry  of  the 
sects  is  so  great  that  none  of  them  could  be  trusted  to 
treat  the  others  fairly  if  a  Christian  sect  were  in  con¬ 
trol,  and,  although  their  manners  are  often  offensive, 
the  Moslems  for  a  thousand  years  have  always  acted 
impartially  and  kept  the  scene  of  the  burial  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  Savior  open  to  all  on  equal  terms. 
Years  ago  they  imposed  a  tax  of  one  franc  upon  every 
person  who  entered  the  church,  but  the  admission 
fee  has  been  abolished.  Under  their  rule  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  is  the  only  sacred  shrine  and 
the  only  Christian  edifice  in  any  of  the  holy  cities  to 
which  the  multitudes  of  the  earth,  the  tribes  and  the 
peoples  of  all  faiths,  can  come  and  with  equal  rights 
kneel  at  the  altar  and  offer  prayer  and  praise  in  their 
own  languages  and  according  to  their  own  rituals. 
This  could  not  be  said  if  the  place  were  controlled  by 
any  of  the  different  denominations.  That  we  must 
admit.  And  it  is  true  that,  except  among  the  Mos- 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 


411 

lems,  there  is  no  religious  toleration  in  the  East.  The 
Turk  is  tolerant  to  a  certain  degree,  because  he  is 
supreme  and  indifferent  to  the  consequences,  and  so 
long  as  Christians  have  so  little  of  the  spirit  of  Christ 
as  to  quarrel  over  His  tomb,  perhaps  it  is  better  that 
its  custody  be  intrusted  to  an  impartial  pagan. 

The  office  of  custodian  is  hereditary  in  a  Jerusalem 
family,  having  been  conferred  upon  it  by  one  of  the 
sultans  several  centuries  ago.  Their  compensation  is 
paid  by  the  different  religious  sects.  The  priests  con¬ 
sider  it  in  the  light  of  blackmail,  for  it  is  very  irksome, 
but  they  ought  to  be  thankful  that  they  get  off  as  easy 
as  they  do,  because  the  government  will  protect  the 
custodian  in  anything  he  chooses  to  demand.  If  the 
number  of  pilgrims  is  large  and  the  receipts  of  the 
religious  orders  are  increased  his  remuneration  is  pro¬ 
portional.  They  cannot  resist.  They  are  compelled 
to  pay  or  he  will  shut  them  out  altogether,  but  he  is 
generally  very  reasonable  and  courteous,  and  both 
Greek  and  Franciscan  monks  assured  me  that  they 
have  nothing  to  complain  of  in  this  respect. 

It  is  a  matter  of  necessity,  too,  to  have  a  military 
guard  to  keep  the  peace  among  the  pilgrims  as  well  as 
among  the  priests.  Many  of  the  pilgrims  are  so 
bigoted  and  fanatical  as  to  regard  those  of  other 
denominations  as  heretics,  hypocrites,  unregenerate 
sons  of  Satan  and  enemies  of  God  and  man.  The 
Greek  and  Roman  Catholic  monks,  the  Armenians  and 
the  Copts,  the  Maronites  and  Druses,  show  the  fiercest 
spirit  and  scowl  ac  each  other  whenever  they  meet. 
Each  sect  has  its  hours  for  worship  at  the  sepulcher, 
and  the  custodian  and  his  military  guard  protect  them 
from  interference.  Each  has  its  own  separate  chapel, 
and  the  limits  are  plainly  and  sharply  defined  so  there 


412  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


need  be  no  accidental  collisions.  The  Greeks  have 
the  largest  and  finest  chapel;  the  Roman  Catholics 
have  several,  although  they  are  comparatively  small; 
the  Copts,  Armenians,  Syrians  and  Abyssinians  have 
smaller  chapels.  The  Syrian  chapel  is  said  to  have 
been  the  burial  place  of  Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of 
Arimathsea. 

No  Jews  are  allowed  to  enter  the  Holy  Church. 
When  they  pass  by  outside  they  draw  their  cloaks 
around  them  and  turn  their  eyes  the  other  way  for  fear 
of  insult.  Many  fanatics  among  the  pilgrims,  and 
particularly  among  the  Russians,  would  not  hesitate  to 
assault  or  kill  a  Jew  if  they  thought  he  showed  a  lack 
of  reverence. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  is  inappropriate, 
insignificant  and  actually  unsafe.  The  decorations  are 
cheap,  common  and  untasteful,  although  everybody 
will  concede  that  the  sepulcher  of  our  Lord  should  be 
the  sublimest  masterpiece  of  architecture,  and  be 
adorned  in  the  highest  type  of  art  and  with  the  most 
costly  embellishment.  St.  Peter’s  at  Rome  is  not  too 
vast  or  magnificent  an  expression  of  the  idea  that  I  am 
trying  to  convey.  The  building  that  shelters  the  tomb 
should  be  as  beautiful  as  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  here  in 
Jerusalem,  or  St.  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  or  that 
exquisite  temple  of  stained  glass  and  carved  wood  and 
chiseled  marble,  La  Chappelle,  which  Louis  the  Great 
built  in  Paris  for  the  relics  gathered  by  Charlemagne. 
The  Christian  world  would  contribute  abundant  funds 
to  build  a  tabernacle  worthy  of  its  wealth  and  its  num¬ 
bers,  to  replace  the  present  one,  if  it  could  be  built. 
It  should  be  strong  and  perfect;  it  should  be  costly 
and  immortal;  it  should  be  of  marble  and  gold.  The 
dome  of  the  present  sepulcher  has  been  pronounced 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  413 


unsafe,  and  although  it  has  been  repaired  several 
times,  it  never  can  be  a  perfectly  built  piece  of  archi¬ 
tecture. 

But  whatever  may  be  offensive  to  our  sense  of  pro¬ 
priety  and  good  taste  in  the  Church  of  the  Resurrec¬ 
tion,  however  evil  passions  and  jealousies  may  rage, 
however  superstitous  may  be  the  rites  and  ceremonies 
performed  there,  yet  during  eighteen  hundred  years 
it  has  stood  as  a  monument  and  a  commemoration  of 
certain  events  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  religion, 
which  have  invested  it  with  a  sanctity  and  a  signifi¬ 
cance  that  no  other  building  on  earth  can  ever  possess. 
Think  of  the  milions  of  pilgrims  that  have  knelt  in 
this  shrine;  think  of  the  millions  of  prayers  that  have 
been  uttered  here,  the  oceans  of  tears  that  have  been 
shed  and  the  jubilees  of  joy  and  triumph  that  have 
burst  from  the  hearts  of  believers  under  this  crumbling 
old  dome. 

The  sepulcher  itself  is  within  a  little  chapel  of  white 
marble  twenty-six  feet  long  and  eighteen  feet  wide. 
It  is  divided  into  two  small  rooms.  The  first,  which 
is  a  sort  of  an  ante-chamber,  is  called  the  Chapel  of 
the  Angel,  and  the  entrance  is  so  small  that  you  have 
to  stoop  as  you  pass  in.  Here  is  shown  the  great 
stone  which  the  angels  rolled  away  on  the  morning  of 
the  resurrection,  and  it  is  shielded  from  destruction  by 
a  glass  case.  The  pilgrims  kiss  the  glass.  If  they 
were  allowed  to  kiss  the  stone  it  would  be  soon  worn 
away.  The  glass  has  to  be  replaced  frequently. 
Another  very  small  door  admits  the  visitor  into  the 
Chapel  of  the  Sepulcher,  which  is  only  six  and  a  half 
feet  long  by  six  feet  wide,  and  entirely  encased  in 
beautiful  marble.  The  actual  resting  place  of  the 
body  of  Christ  is  a  chiseled  niche  in  the  stone  wall,  lined 


414  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


with  marble  veneering,  and  beside  it  stands  a  priest 
who  drops  sacred  oil  or  sprinkles  holy  water  upon  the 
heads  of  the  pilgrims  as  they  stoop  to  kiss  the  spot 
where  the  Savior  lay.  From  the  ceiling,  which  is 
quite  low,  hang  forty-three  lamps  of  silver  and  gold, 
always  burning,  that  belong  to  the  different  churches 
which  have  the  right  to  worship  at  this  shrine.  Holes 
have  been  pierced  in  the  ceiling  to  allow  the  smoke  to 
escape,  but  the  heat  from  the  lamps  gives  the  little 
room  a  very  high  temperature  and  perspiration  was 
pouring  from  the  face  of  the  monk  who  stood  there 
performing  the  sacred  offices  when  I  entered. 

These  two  little  chapels  are  open  to  all  and  the  rep¬ 
resentatives  of  each  of  the  several  churches  preside 
there  at  certain  hours  of  the  day.  Two  Mohammedan 
soldiers  with  guns  at  their  shoulders  are  always  at  the 
entrance  in  case  their  services  should  be  needed. 

There  are  many  other  interesting  places  in  the 
church,  some  of  which  are  apt  to  be  questioned  by 
people  of  inquiring  mind.  Near  the  entrance  is  what 
is  called  the  stone  of  unction,  a  slab  of  flesh-colored 
marble  eight  and  one-half  feet  long  and  four  feet 
broad,  upon  which  it  is  claimed  that  the  body  of  Christ 
was  prepared  for  burial.  It  is  customary  for  pilgrims 
to  bring  the  shrouds  in  which  they  intend  to  be  buried 
in  order  to  consecrate  them  by  rubbing  the  cloth  upon 
this  slab,  and  the  priests  upon  application  furnish 
shrouds  that  have  been  so  sanctified.  Near  by  they 
show  you  the  spot  where  the  holy  mother  stood  with 
Mary  Magdalene  and  St.  John,  the  beloved  disciple, 
while  the  body  of  her  son  was  being  anointed  and 
wrapped  in  cerements. 

They  show  you  the  Chapel  of  the  Apparition  which 
stands  where  Jesus  appeared  to  His  mother  after  the 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  415 

resurrection;  the  Chapel  of  the  Parting  of  theRaiment, 
which  belongs  to  the  Armenians;  the  Chapel  of  the 
Crown  of  Thorns;  the  Chapel  of  the  Cross,  which  is 
forty-two  feet  long  and  fifteen  feet  wide.  In  the  floor 
are  said  to  be  the  actual  places  where  the  three  crosses 
stood,  five  feet  apart,  the  holes  in  the  rock  being  lined 
with  silver;  the  Chapel  of  the  Two  Thieves  marks 
the  place  where  they  were  nailed  to  their  crosses,  and 
beneath  them  is  the  Chapel  of  Adam,  in  which  the 
father  of  all  men  is  said  to  have  been  buried. 

The  idea  that  Adam  was  buried  on  Calvary  prevailed 
extensively  in  early  times,  and  is  mentioned  by  several 
of  the  early  writers  of  the  church,  but  one  feels  reluc¬ 
tant  to  believe  or  even  to  repeat  the  tradition  that  the 
blood  of  Jesus  flowed  through  a  cleft  in  the  rock  upon 
the  head  of  Adam  and  restored  him  to  life. 

There  are  several  other  chapels,  some  of  them  under¬ 
ground,  that  which  has  the  greatest  interest  being  the 
one  in  which  the  holy  cross  was  discovered  by  the 
Empress  Helena.  Another  point  of  interest  is  a  stone 
called  “the  navel  of  the  world,”  which  is  supposed  to 
mark  the  exact  center  of  the  universe;  and  here,  too, 
we  find  another  stone  upon  which  Abraham  attempted 
to  sacrifice  Isaac,  the  third  to  be  seen  in  Jerusalem. 
There  is  a  pillar  that  perspires,  and  the  moisture  from 
it  will  cure  almost  any  disease.  We  saw  the  tombs  of 
Melchizedek,  Godfrey  de  Bouillon  and  Baldwin  I.,  the 
crusaders.  Perhaps  the  latter  are  the  only  two  objects 
in  the  church  whose  authenticity  can  be  established 
beyond  question.  Godfrey,  the  hero  of  the  first  cru¬ 
sade,  was  elected  king  of  Jerusalem,  but  declined  that 
title.  He  said  that  where  the  Savior  wore  a  crown  of 
thorns  he  could  not  wear  a  crown  of  gold.  He  called 
himself  “The  Baron  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.”  He 


4i6  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


died,  or  is  supposed  to  have  been  poisoned,  in  the 
year  uoo,  when  only  thirty-eight  years  of  age,  and  was 
buried  here.  His  sword,  spurs  and  the  crucifix  he 
wore  are  preserved  in  the  Roman  Catholic  chapel. 

I  cannot  engage  in  the  controversy  as  to  the  site  of 
the  sepulcher  of  Christ,  although  it  seems  to  me,  as  it 
does  to  many  others,  that  the  generally  accepted  loca¬ 
tion  does  not  correspond  in  any  respect  with  the  ambig¬ 
uous  descriptions  contained  in  the  gospel  accounts  of 
the  crucifixion;  but  that  question  has  been  argued  for 
sixteen  centuries  and  is  no  nearer  a  settlement  than 
when  the  discussion  began.  There  are  distinguished 
authorities  on  both  sides.  The  evidence  is  meager 
and  contradictory,  and  the  topography  of  the  country 
has  probably  been  more  or  less  altered. 

We  are  informed  by  the  evangelists  that  Golgotha 
lay  outside  the  city  walls  and  was  a  small  rocky  emi¬ 
nence,  so'  called  on  account  of  its  resemblance  to  a 
skull.  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  is  in  the 
center  of  modern  Jerusalem  and  upon  the  slope  of 
Mount  Moriah.  The  remainder  of  the  city,  north  and 
west  of  it,  is  considerably  higher.  In  fact,  you  descend 
quite  a  steep  hill  to  reach  it.  It  is  possible,  of  course^ 
that  the  configuration  of  the  land  may  have  been  con¬ 
siderably  different  twenty  centuries  ago  and  that  the 
present  location  may  have  been  outside  the  walls,  but 
if  that  is  true  the  ancient  city  of  Jerusalem  was  a  very 
insignificant  place  and  could  not  have  contained  a 
small  fraction  of  the  population  generally  attributed 
to  it.  Even  the  area  encircled  by  the  present  walls  is 
much  smaller  than  one  would  expect  to  find  after  read¬ 
ing  the  descriptions  of  early  writers. 

What  is  known  as  “Gordon’s  Tomb,”  a  little  hillock 
just  outside  the  Gate  of  Damascus,  seems  to  answer 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  417 

the  description  of  Golgotha  admirably  in  several 
respects,  and  so  eminent  an  authority  as  Dr.  Merrill, 
the  United  States  consul,  who  has  devoted  his  life  to 
the  study  of  this  and  kindred  questions,  is  inclined  to 
believe  that  it  is  the  actual  site  of  the  crucifixion.  He 
has  made  excavations  there,  to  which  are  due  several 
important  discoveries  which  confirm  his  opinion.  He 
believes  that  the  Savior  carried  His  cross  from  the 
Hall  of  Judgment,  whose  site  is  now  occupied  by  a 
military  barracks,  not  by  the  narrow  and  crooked  lane 
known  as  Via  Dolorosa,  to  the  site  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher,  but  along  the  broad  military  road 
which  runs  through  the  Damascus  Gate  to  what  is  now 
known  as  the  “Gordon  Tomb.” 

On  the  other  hand,  the  most  distinguished  writers 
and  theologians  of  the  Greek,  Roman,  Armenian  and 
Protestant  churches  adhere  to  the  authenticity  of  the 
present  location. 

General  Charles  Gordon,  the  hero  of  Khartum,  a 
brave  soldier  and  Christian  gentleman,  was  so 
impressed  with  the  site  outside  the  walls  when  he  was 
taken  there  many  years  ago  by  Dr.  Merrill  that  he 
wrote  several  magazine  articles  to  prove  its  claims. 
Hence  his  name  became  attached  to  the  site,  and  it  is 
called  “Gordon’s  Tomb”  in  the  guide  books.  It  is  an 
abrupt,  rocky  cliff  about  sixty  feet  above  the  roadway 
and  apparently  of  solid  rock.  One  side  is  almost  per¬ 
pendicular  and  looks  as  if  it  had  been  blasted  off  like 
a  quarry.  The  other  side  is  a  gradual  slope  from  the 
pastures  beyond  the  city.  Upon  the  rocky  side  it  is 
easy  to  trace  the  likeness  of  a  skull,  a  bold  forehead 
and  a  large  jaw,  two  regular  cavities  in  the  rock  for  the 
eyes,  two  more  for  the  mouth  and  the  nose,  and  after 
you  have  looked  a  little  while  the  picture  fascinates 


4i 8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


you.  There  is  no  evidence  or  reason  to  believe  that 
this  rough  surface  has  been  changed  in  the  slightest 
degree  since  the  date  of  the  crucifixion. 

At  the  foot  of  the  cliff  Dr.  Merrill  discovered  some 
years  ago  several  graves  chiseled  out  of  the  solid 
rock.  One  of  them  is  a  chamber  of  considerable  size, 
evidently  intended  as  a  family  tomb,  with  niches  for 
three  bodies  carved  in  the  walls,  one  at  the  end  and 
two,  one  over  the  other,  at  right  angles.  The  other 
tombs  are  not  so  large,  but  are  of  similar  construction. 
It  is  believed  that  the  larger  one  belonged  to  Joseph  of 
Arimathaea  and  that  one  of  the  niches  “was  the  place 
where  the  Lord  lay.” 

The  opinion  of  General  Gordon  attracted  so  much 
attention  in  England  that  a  Miss  Louise  Hope  was 
attracted  to  Jerusalem  and  afterwards  to  Constanti¬ 
nople,  where,  through  the  intervention  of  the  British 
ambassador,  she  succeeded  in  purchasing  the  property, 
and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  a  board  of  trustees  con¬ 
sisting  of  herself,  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  the  Marquis  of 
Northampton,  the  Earl  of  Aberdeen  and  the  Rev. 
Canon  Tristam.  She  also  contributed  a  sum  of  money 
which  has  been  used  in  clearing  up  the  place,  building 
a  wall  around  it,  laying  out  a  garden,  erecting  a  keep¬ 
er’s  lodge  and  putting  it  in  excellent  order.  It  is  now 
in  the  charge  of  a  Scotch  caretaker,  who  explains  to 
visitors  the  evidences  in  favor  of  that  hill  as  the  site 
of  the  crucifixion. 

According  to  Bishop  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  who 
lived  from  the  year  264  to  340  A.  D.  and  is  the  earliest 
reliable  historian  of  the  church,  the  tomb  of  the  Savior 
was  discovered  by  the  Empress  Helena,  mother  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine,  who  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Jeru¬ 
salem  in  the  year  336.  Prompted  by  a  vision  she  and 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 


419 


Bishop  Macarius,  by  the  aid  of  a  miracle,  also  discov¬ 
ered  the  true  cross,  which  was  buried  in  a  cave  adjoin¬ 
ing  the  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arimathaea.  St.  Helena 
built  a  sumptuous  chapel  over  the  tomb  in  the  year 
336,  upon  the  ruins  of  a  temple  of  Venus  erected  by 
Hadrian,  for  until  her  time  the  tomb  beneath  had  been 
used  in  connection  with  the  worship  of  that  goddess. 
She  also  discovered  the  cross  upon  which  the  repent¬ 
ant  thief  was  executed. 

Both  these  crosses,  according  to  the  local  traditions 
of  the  Christians  at  Jerusalem,  were  hidden  away  in 
the  ground  by  the  disciples  and  their  friends  to  pre¬ 
serve  them.  In  order  to  test  the  genuineness  of  the 
true  cross  a  dying  woman  was  laid  upon  it  and 
instantly  recovered  her  health.  In  383  St.  Jerome 
described  the  church  and  the  cross.  They  are 
described  by  Rufinus  in  410  and  again  by  Theodoret 
in  440.  In  614  the  church  was  destroyed  by  the  Per¬ 
sians,  but  was  rebuilt  in  620  with  additions.  Two  cen¬ 
turies  later  it  was  destroyed  by  fire.  In  1010  it  was 
pulled  to  the  ground  by  the  Moslems,  but  was  rebuilt, 
enlarged  and  beautified  by  the  crusaders.  In  1187,  in 
1244  and  1310  it  was  also  destroyed,  being  rebuilt  each 
time,  and  has  met  with  various  other  damages  and 
disasters.  In  1808  it  was  almost  entirely  burned  down, 
the  dome  fell  in,  the  chapel  of  the  sepulcher  was 
crushed  and  nothing  was  saved  except  the  east  part  of 
the  building,  where  traces  of  the  original  walls  may 
still  be  distinguished. 

The  Greeks  contrived  to  secure  for  themselves  the 
larger  part  of  the  church  when  it  was  rebuilt  in  1810 
by  contributing  most  of  the  funds  to  pay  the  expenses. 
For  a  long  time  the  dome  threatened  to  fall,  but  in 
1868,  after  long  negotiations,  an  understanding  was 


420  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


reached  between  Louis  Napoleon  of  France,  represent¬ 
ing  the  Roman  Catholics;  Alexander  II.  of  Russia,  rep¬ 
resenting  the  Orthodox  Greeks,  and  the  liberal  Sultan 
Abdul  Azziz  of  Turkey,  under  which  it  was  repaired 
by  a  French  architect  at  the  expense  of  the  sovereigns 
named.  The  original  dome  was  secured  by  iron  braces 
and  a  false  dome  was  built  above  to  protect  it.  The 
inner  side  of  the  lower  dome  was  lined  with  lead,  the 
exterior  of  the  upper  dome  was  covered  with  boards, 
then  with  felt,  and  lastly  with  lead. 

These  braces  were  intended  to  be  only  temporary. 
It  was  expected  that  after  further  negotiations  between 
the  representatives  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches, 
under  the  patronage  of  Louis  Napoleon,  that  an  agree¬ 
ment  would  be  reached  by  which  the  entire  church 
could  be  restored,  but  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  occur¬ 
ring  a  few  years  later,  terminated  the  reign  of  Louis 
Napoleon,  and  since  that  time  nothing  has  been  done. 

The  dome  is  said  to  be  a  wreck.  The  plaster  fre¬ 
quently  falls  down  from  the  ceiling,  and  competent 
architects  who  have  made  examinations  have  declared 
that  the  chapel  of  the  sepulcher  is  again  in  continual 
danger  of  being  crushed  by  its  feeble  and  crumbling 
canopy  of  iron,  stone  and  lead. 

It  was  expected  that  the  visit  of  Kaiser  William  to 
the  Holy  Land  in  1898  would  be  followed  by  impor¬ 
tant  concessions  to  Protestants  in  Jerusalem,  but  noth¬ 
ing  has  happened  yet.  Among  other  things  it  was 
understood  that  a  representative  of  the  sultan  would 
present  to  the  emperor  with  solemn  ceremony  the 
Caenaculum,  the  building  in  which  the  Last  Supper  is 
said  to  have  taken  place.  This  building  has  been  in 
the  possession  of  the  Turks  for  a  thousand  years,  ever 
since  the  crusades,  and  Christian  pilgrims  are  not  per- 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 


421 


mitted  to  enter  its  walls.  Some  years  ago  a  cardinal 
archbishop  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church  was  actually 
refused  the  privilege  of  erecting  an  altar  and  cele¬ 
brating  mass  there  on  a  certain  Good  Friday.  Tour¬ 
ists  can  get  in  by  the  liberal  use  of  baksheesh.  We 
went  with  a  dragoman  from  the  hotel  and  were 
admitted,  but  it  costs  much  money,  and  the  children 
of  the  custodian  called  us  vile  names  while  we  were 
there. 

The  appearance  of  the  room  does  not  justify  confi¬ 
dence  in  the  story.  It  is  a  heavily  arched  and  vaulted 
chamber,  such  as  you  find  in  the  crypts  of  ancient 
castles  and  cathedrals,  and  adjoins  what  is  said  to  be 
the  Tomb  of  David.  It  seems  almost  certain  that  if 
the  Last  Supper  had  occurred  in  such  close  proximity 
to  the  grave  of  the  great  king  of  Israel,  that  fact 
would  have  been  mentioned  in  the  story  as  told  by  the 
disciples. 

Christians  are  not  permitted  to  see  the  tomb,  which 
is  also  controlled  by  the  Moslems,  but  in  an  adjoining 
room  are  shown  a  model  upon  the  payment  of  three 
piasters.  The  original  has  occasionally  been  seen  by 
foreigners  of  influence  'through  the  favor  of  the  gov¬ 
ernor,  and  one  who  "saw  it  recently  tells  me  that  the 
model  is  very  much  like  the  original,  except  that  it  is 
not  so  richly  embellished.  The  tomb  is  an  immense 
sarcophagus  of  rough  stone  covered  with  a  pall  of 
green  satin  tapestry  embroidered  with  inscriptions 
from  the  Koran  in  gold.  Above  it  is  a  canopy  of 
brilliant  colors,  also  embroidered,  and  two  candles  and 
a  little  lamp  stand  near  by,  and  are  always  kept  burn¬ 
ing.  The  wall  and  the  ceiling  of  the  room  are  veneered 
with  tiles. 

It  is  possible  that  this  is  the  genuine  tomb  of  David, 


422  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


for  his  sepulcher  appears  to  have  been  known  at  the 
time  of  Christ.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  Peter  spoke 
of  it,  saying,  “His  sepulcher  is  with  us  unto  this  day.” 
The  present  tomb  has  been  venerated  continuously 
since  the  time  of  the  Empress  Helena,  and  has  not 
been  lost  sight  of  since.  Josephus  tells  that  Hyrcanus, 
the  high  priest,  robbed  it  of  3,000  talents,  with  which 
to  bribe  Antiochus  to  abandon  the  siege  of  Jerusalem, 
and  that  Herod  the  Great  attempted  to  find  an 
immense  store  of  gold  in  the  sarcophagus,  but  was 
driven  out  of  the  tomb  by  miraculous  flames  of  fire. 

Before  Emperor  William  went  to  Jerusalem  it  was 
published  that  the  sultan  had  decided  to  present  the 
Caenaculum  to  him,  but  the  story  appears  to  have  been 
untrue.  The  chief  object  of  the  kaiser’s  visit  was  to 
participate  in  the  dedication  of  a  new  German  Luth¬ 
eran  church,  by  far  the  handsomest  piece  of  modern 
architecture  in  Palestine,  which  ^occupies  the  site  of 
the  ancient  temple  of  the  Order  of  Hospitalers  and 
Knights  of  St.  John,  presented  to  the  late  Emperor 
Frederick  by  the  Sultan  Abdul  Azziz.  The  gift 
embraced  nearly  a  block  of  ground,  which  is  still  cov¬ 
ered  with  the  ruins  of  the  hospice  of  St.  John,  and  is 
one  of  the  best  locations  in  the  city,  being  not  more 
than  a  hundred  yards  from  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher. 

Jerusalem  suffered  a  thorough  cleansing  before  the 
war  lord  of  Germany  came,  and  as  I  have  already  told 
you,  new  roads  were  constructed  to  various  points  of 
interest  for  his  benefit.  It  was  discovered  long  after¬ 
ward  that  he  had  invited  representatives  of  the  several 
evangelical  denominations  in  the  United  States,  but 
only  the  Lutherans  were  represented.  Through  the 
stupidity  of  some  aid-de-camp  or  clerk  the  invitations 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  423 


were  addressed  to  “the  Superintendent  of  the  Presby¬ 
terian  Church,  United  States  of  America’’  and  “To  the 
Superintendent  of  the  Baptist  Church,  United  States 
of  America,’’  and,  of  course,  were  not  delivered.  It 
appears  that  the  aid-de-camp  did  not  have  sense 
enough  to  get  the  proper  addresses  at  the  American 
embassy.  The  address  of  the  Lutherans  was  obtained 
from  the  court  chaplain  of  Berlin,  and  of  course  was 
correct. 

The  Via  Dolorosa,  by  which  the  Savior  is  said  to 
have  borne  His  cross  to  Calvary,  or  the  “Way  to  the 
Cross,”  is  a  narrow,  crooked  lane  leading  from  mili¬ 
tary  barracks  which  are  supposed  to  occupy  the  former 
sight  of  the  praetorium,  the  residence  of  Pilate,  to  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher.  The  authenticity  of 
this  tradition,  of  course,  is  linked  with  that  referring 
to  the  site  of  the  crucifixion,  and  if  one  is  true  the 
other  must  be  also.  The  Via  Dolorosa  is  marked  with 
tablets  which  divide  the  journey  of  the  Savior  from 
the  judgment  hall  to  the  sepulcher  in  fourteen  sta¬ 
tions,  each  station  representing  some  incident  that 
occurred  upon  that  memorable  day.  These  stations 
are  recognized  by  all  the  Christian  denominations  and 
are  used  to  regulate  the  movements  of  their  proces¬ 
sions  upon  religious  anniversaries. 

The  first  is  the  chapel  of  the  barracks  of  the  Turkish 
garrison,  where  the  hall  of  judgment  is  supposed  to 
have  stood,  and  from  this  place  was  taken  the  Scala 
Santa,  the  flight  of  marble  stairs  now  at  the  Church  of 
St.  John  Lateran,  in  Rome.  The  second  station, 
where  the  cross  was  laid  upon  Christ,  is  at  the  entrance 
to  the  barracks,  and  there  an  arch  which  crosses  the 
street  is  said  to  mark  the  spot  upon  which  Pilate  stood 
when  he  said:  “Take  ye  Him  and  crucify  Him,  for  I 


424  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


find  no  fault  in  Him.”  The  third  station  is  at  a  hos¬ 
pice  for  pilgrims  under  the  charge  of  Armenian  monks. 
Here  Christ  is  said  to  have  sunk  under  the  weight  of 
the  cross.  A  few  yards  beyond  this  station  is  the 
house  of  the  poor  man  Lazarus.  At  the  next  street 
corner,  where  the  Via  Dolorosa  turns  to  the  west,  a 
picturesque  medieval  residence  is  pointed  out  as  the 
house  of  Dives,  the  rich  man,  but  there  is  indisputable 
evidence  that  it  was  built  no  earlier  than  the  fifteenth 
century.  Opposite  is  the  fifth  station,  where  Simon 
of  Cyrene  relieved  Christ  of  the  cross,  and  a  depres¬ 
sion  in  the  wall  is  pointed  out  as  the  place  where  the 
hand  of  Christ  rested  when  He  steadied  Himself. 
About  one  hundred  paces  farther  on,  a  chapel  of  the 
United  Greeks,  marks  the  site  of  the  residence  and  tomb 
of  Saint  Veronica,  who  is  said  to  have  wiped  the  per¬ 
spiration  from  the  Savior’s  brow  and  to  have  received 
a  permanent  impression  of  His  face  upon  her  hand¬ 
kerchief.  The  handkerchief  is  in  St.  Peter’s  Cathedral, 
at  Rome.  This  is  the  sixth  station.  The  seventh 
marks  where  Christ  fell  a  second  time,  and  there  is  a 
modern  chapel  adjoining  the  hospice  of  St.  John.  The 
eighth  station,  where  Christ  is  said  to  have  addressed 
the  women  who  accompanied  Him,  is  at  the  Greek 
monastery  of  St.  Caralombos.  The  ninth  is  in  front  of 
the  Coptic  monastery.  The  last  five  stations  are  in  the 
Church  of  the  Sepulcher,  marking  the  places  where 
Christ  is  said  to  have  been  undressed,  where  He  was 
nailed  to  the  cross,  where  the  cross  was  erected,  where 
He  was  taken  down  from  the  cross,  and  lastly  the 
tomb  in  which  He  was  laid. 

It  is  absolutely  demonstrated  by  competent  arche¬ 
ologists  that  not  a  foot  of  the  walls  on  either  side  of 
the  Via  Dolorosa  existed  at  the  time  of  the  crucifixion, 


HOUSE  OF  PILATE,  JERUSALEM 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  425 

although  it  is  possible  that  they  may  rest  upon  the 
foundations  that  are  so  old.  The  pavement  is  irreg¬ 
ular,  slippery,  covered  with  filth  and  blocked  with 
heaps  of  stone  and  rubbish,  which  appears  to  have  been 
lying  there  indefinitely.  The  present  governor  occu¬ 
pies  a  part  of  the  building  said  to  have  been  the  resi¬ 
dence  of  Pilate,  although  that  is  questionable. 

A  few  months  after  the  crucifixion  fortune  began  to 
frown  upon  Pilate  and  he  was  sent  back  to  Rome  in 
disgrace.  One  of  the  so-called  messiahs  who  sprang 
up  in  Judea  after  the  crucifixion  informed  the  people 
of  Samaria  that  he  knew  where  the  sacred  treasures  of 
the  Jews  were  hidden  and  invited  them  to  meet  him 
on  Gerizim,  the  Holy  Mount,  to  dig  them  up.  Pilate 
sent  a  detachment  of  troops  to  protect  the  synagogues 
there,  which  had  a  collision  with  the  populace  and 
killed  several  hundred  people.  The  Samarians  dis¬ 
patched  commissioners  to  Antioch  with  complaints  of 
cruelty,  injustice  and  tyranny,  and  Vitellius,  the 
viceroy,  who  had  been  continually  annoyed  by  dis¬ 
turbances  in  Judea  since  the  crucifixion  and  was 
becoming  very  nervous  over  the  consequences  that 
might  follow,  ordered  Pilate  to  report  to  the  author¬ 
ities  at  Rome.  The  latter  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
successful  in  re-establishing  confidence,  for,  deprived 
of  power  and  honors,  he  retired  to  Switzerland  and  is 
said  to  have  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  in  seclusion 
and  remorse  upon  the  summit  of  a  mountain  which 
bears  his  name,  near  the  Lake  of  Luzerne. 

There  is  a  narrow  stone  stairway  built  into  the  wall 
on  the  outside  of  the  Church  of  the  Ploly  Sepulcher 
which  leads  from  the  plaza  in  front  of  it  to  what  is 
known  as  the  Chapel  of  the  Agony  and  the  Chapel  of 
the  Cross,  believed  to  occupy  the  actual  Calvary,  which 


426  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


is  perhaps  twenty-five  feet  above  the  rest  of  the 
church.  These  chapels  belong  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  and  are  in  charge  of  Franciscan  monks,  but  the 
entrance  has  not  been  used  for  many  generations,  and 
the  stairway  is  practically  useless.  The  Mohammedan 
custodian  of  the  sepulcher  is  required  to  keep  the  plaza 
outside  the  church  in  good  order,  and  the  Franciscan 
monks  complained  to  him  in  November,  1901,  that  the 
stairway  was  not  properly  swept.  He  replied  that  if 
he  did  not  keep  it  clean  enough  to  suit  them  they  were 
at  liberty  to  sweep  it  themselves,  and,  acting  upon 
this  suggestion,  a  Franciscan  monk  went  out  with  a 
broom  one  morning,  brushed  down  the  stairs  and 
swept  the  pavement  at  the  bottom. 

This  little  act  caused  intense  indignation  among  the 
Greek  monks,  because,  in  Oriental  countries,  the  act 
of  sweeping  has  a  significance.  No  man  sweeps  any¬ 
thing  but  his  own  house,  and  the  Greek  monks  inter¬ 
preted  the  act  of  the  Franciscans  as  a  demonstration  of 
serious  importance,  as  if  they  intended  to  enforce 
their  claims  to  the  stairway  and  to  the  plaza  around  it. 
Every  inch  of  the  area  of  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher  and  its  surroundings  is  so  precious  and  the 
representatives  of  the  different  religious  sects  are  so 
jealous  of  their  own  rights  and  territory  that  a  violent 
controversy  occurred  at  once  and  the  father  superior 
of  the  Franciscans  and  the  Greek  patriarch  exchanged 
communications  of  a  very  heated  character. 

Both  appealed  to  the  custodian,  and  the  latter 
referred  them  to  the  governor  of  Jerusalem,  who  is 
always  amused  when  the  Christians  quarrel,  and, 
instead  of  trying  to  settle  the  dispute  amicably,  did  all 
in  his  power  to  provoke  animosities  on  both  sides. 
Fie  practically  told  them  that  they  could  fight  it  out 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 


427 


among  themselves,  and  gave  the  Franciscans  permis¬ 
sion  to  sweep  the  steps  or  the  plaza  or  any  other  place 
they  pleased.  But  the  Greek  bishop  sent  the  Fran¬ 
ciscans  warning  that  they  would  not  be  permitted  to 
do  anything  of  the  kind. 

On  the  following  morning,  when  a  Franciscan  lay 
brother  went  out  with  his  broom  to  sweep  the  steps, 
he  was  attended  by  almost  all  the  monks  in  the  mon¬ 
astery.  They  were  unarmed,  but  determined  to  sup¬ 
port  and  defend  him  if  the  Greeks  attempted  to 
interfere  with  his  sweeping.  The  latter,  who  are  not 
always  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  brotherly  love  taught 
and  exemplified  by  their  Great  Master,  climbed  to  the 
flat  roof  of  the  church  and  hurled  a  volley  of  stones  as 
large  as  cocoanuts  upon  the  heads  of  the  Catholic 
monks  below  Twenty  of  the  latter  were  stricken 
senseless  and  lay  on  the  pavement  as  if  dead,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  the  Greeks  had  fireballs,  made  of  inflam¬ 
mable  cloth  soaked  with  kerosene,  which  they  intended 
to  throw  after  the  stones,  but  their  first  volley  did  such 
execution  upon  the  unsuspecting  Franciscans  that  the 
Greeks  were  themselves  frightened  and  came  running 
down  from  the  roof  to  see  whether  the  Franciscans 
who  lay  upon  the  pavement  were  actually  dead.  As 
they  emerged  from  the  door  the  Franciscans  who  were 
uninjured  set  upon  them  with  fury,  and  there  was  a 
brief  but  ineffective  struggle.  The  pavement  of  the 
entire  plaza  was  covered  with  monks  in  black  and 
monks  in  gray  frocks,  fighting,  wrestling  and  scream¬ 
ing.  In  a  hand-to-hand  fight  the  Franciscans  had  the 
advantage,  for  they  wear  coarse  frocks  of  camel’s  hair 
and  their  heads  are  shaven,  while  the  Greek  monks 
wear  their  hair  long,  have  bushy  beards,  and  their 
gowns  are  of  silk  and  other  fine  fabrics. 


428  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  custodian  of  the  sepulcher  summoned  the  mili¬ 
tary  guard,  the  contestants  were  separated  and  the 
insensible  Franciscans  were  carried  to  the  nearest  hos¬ 
pital.  All  of  them  recovered,  and  the  only  permanent 
damage  was  suffered  by  one  of  the  Greek  monks,  who 
had  his  nose  bitten  off  and  lost  most  of  his  hair  and 
beard  in  the  melee.  The  Franciscans  appealed  at  once 
to  the  French  consul,  being  under  his  protection.  He 
reported  the  matter  to  the  French  ambassador  at  Con¬ 
stantinople.  The  latter  went  immediately  to  the  sultan, 
who  ordered  an  investigation,  and,  upon  the  demand 
of  France,  reprimanded  and  removed  the  governor 
of  Jerusalem  for  encouraging  or  at  least  permitting 
the  row  and  confirmed  the  Franciscans  in  their 
right  to  sweep  the  steps  to  the  Chapel  of  Agony.  But, 
with  their  usual  vindictiveness,  the  Greek  monks  were 
determined  to  get  even  with  the  Franciscans  without 
the  intervention  of  the  sultan,  and  made  since  such 
violent  demonstrations  toward  them,  and  particu¬ 
larly  toward  the  superior  of  that  order,  who  is  in 
charge  here  and  enjoys  the  empty  honor  of  the  title 
“Custodian  of  the  Holy  Land,”  that  the  latter  felt 
it  necessary  to  call  upon  the  governor  for  an  escort  to 
protect  his  person.  Hence  wherever  he  goes  he  is  now 
accompanied  by  a  Moslem  guard  and  when  he  comes 
to  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  to  say  mass  or 
attend  service  is  always  surrounded  by  soldiers.  Mili¬ 
tary  guards  have  been  maintained  not  only  there  but  in 
the  Roman  Catholic  chapel  in  the  Church  of  the 
Nativity  at  Bethlehem  since  November,  1901.. 

Emperor  William  of  Germany,  who  is  always  on  the 
alert  for  opportunities  to  serve  his  subjects,  had  his 
consul  general  at  Jerusalem  make  a  report  concerning 
the  fracas,  and  when  he  learned  that  several  of  the 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER 


429 


Franciscans  were  of  German  birth,  demanded  the 
arrest,  trial  and  punishment  of  the  Greek  monks  who 
had  assaulted  them.  Such  a  proceeding  was  unpre¬ 
cedented,  but  the  sultan  is  in  the  habit  of  complying 
with  every  wish  the  kaiser  may  express,  and  promptly 
issued  an  order  to  the  governor  of  Jerusalem,  requir¬ 
ing  the  court  to  find  a  verdict  before  it  left  the  bench. 
This  precaution  indicates  that  his  majesty  is  aware  of 
the  practices  of  his  representatives  in  Palestine  and  did 
not  intend  to  give  the  Greek  abbot  a  chance  to  bribe 
them.  The  trial  was  held.  Thirty-four  Greek  monks 
were  found  guilty  of  assaulting  the  German  Franciscans 
and  sentenced  to  terms  of  imprisonment  varying  from 
four  days  to  nine  months.  The  proceedings  created  a 
profound  sensation  in  Palestine.  The  Greeks  were 
compelled  to  swallow  their  chagrin  and  submit. 

This  is  not  the  first  time  that  violent  collisions  have 
occurred  between  the  representatives  of  the  two 
denominations  at  Jerusalem.  The  fight  has  been  going 
on  since  the  fifth  century.  The  mother  of  the 
Emperor  Constantine  built  the  first  church  over  the 
sepulcher,  and  when  the  great  division  of  the  church 
occurred,  both  factions  claimed  the  right  of  possession 
and  have  been  fighting  for  it  ever  since.  So  far  back 
as  1342  a  traveler,  writing  of  his  experience  in  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  describes  the  disgraceful  outbreaks  among  the 
Christian  brotherhoods,  and  Rev.  Henry  Maundrell, 
who  visited  Jerusalem  in  1695,  says  privileges 

of  worshiping  in  the  Holy  Sepulcher  are  “contested 
with  so  much  unchristian  fury  and  animosity,  espe¬ 
cially  between  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  that  in  disputing 
which  party  should  go  in  to  it  to  celebrate  their  mass, 
they  have  sometimes  proceeded  to  blows  and  wounds 
even  at  the  very  door  of  the  sepulcher,  mingling  their 


430  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

own  blood  with  the  sacrifices,  in  evidence  of  which 
fury  the  father  guardian  showed  us  a  great  scar  upon 
his  arm  which  he  told  us  was  the  mark  of  a  wound 
given  him  by  a  sturdy  Greek  priest  in  one  of  those 
unholy  wars.  Who  can  expect  ever  to  see  these 
holy  places  rescued  from  the  hands  of  infidels?  Or 
if  they  should  be  recovered  what  deplorable  contests 
might  be  expected  to  follow  about  them,  seeing,  even 
in  their  present  state  of  captivity,  they  are  made  the 
occasion  of  such  unchristian  raids  and  animosities.” 

Ever  since  the  schism  in  the  holy  church  after  its 
recognition  by  Constantine,  the  Greek  and  Latin  fac¬ 
tions  have  been  fighting  for  the  possession  of  the  holy 
places.  What  is  known  as  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church 
is  by  far  the  most  powerful,  numerous  and  wealthy  of 
all  the  Christian  sects  represented  in  Jerusalem,  and 
has  the  advantage  of  the  vigorous  support,  physical, 
political,  moral  and  diplomatic,  of  the  Russian  gov¬ 
ernment,  whose  consul  general  resides  within  the 
enclosure  that  contains  the  Greek  hospice  for  pilgrims 
and  the  Russian  church. 

The  Roman  Catholics,  dating  from  the  days  of  St. 
Louis,  King  of  France,  have  had  the  moral  and  polit¬ 
ical  support  of  France,  but  since  the  overthrow  of  the 
empire  and  the  establishment  of  a  republic  this  sup¬ 
port  has  grown  weaker  and  less  effective.  The  Jews, 
strange  to  say,  are  under  the  protection  of  the  Austrian 
and  Spanish  consuls — representatives  of  the  two 
sovereigns  who  are  most  loyal  and  zealous  in  their  sup¬ 
port  of  the  pope.  The  French  consul  gives  his  best 
efforts,  no  doubt,  to  secure  protection  for  the  Fran¬ 
ciscans  and  other  religious  orders,  but  the  controlling 
influence  of  Palestine  is  in  Constantinople,  and  the 
sultan  knows  the  atheistical  tendencies  of  the  French 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  431 


people  and  the  indifference  of  the  French  government 
to  the  interests  of  the  church. 

Jerusalem  is  the  residence  of  a  governor,  or  mute- 
sarrif,  of  the  first  class,  who  is  immediately  subject  to 
the  personal  authority  of  the  sovereign.  The  present 
incumbent  has  been  there  but  a  short  time,  and  up  to 
January,  1902,  was  private  secretary  to  the  sultan.  He  is 
assisted  by  an  executive  council  of  his  own  appoint¬ 
ment,  which  has  jurisdiction  over  the  entire  province, 
and  a  municipal  council,  which  looks  after  affairs  in 
the  town.  In  both  of  these  councils  all  of  the  prom¬ 
inent  religious  denominations  are  supposed  to  have 
representatives — the  Orthodox  Greeks,  Roman  Cath¬ 
olics,  Jews,  Protestants  and  Armenians — and  each  of 
these  representatives  is  supposed  to  have  jurisdiction 
over  and  immediate  control  of  the  members  of  his  own 
faith,  for  whom  he  is.  responsible  to  the  governor  and 
through  him  to  the  sultan.  They  may  be  either 
priests  or  laymen  and  are  appointed  upon  the  recom¬ 
mendation  or  application  of  the  patriarch,  or  bishop, 
having  ecclesiastical  authority  in  Jerusalem.  Thus  the 
government  is  semi-ecclesiastical,  and  every  person 
who  arrives  in  Jerusalem  for  either  permanent  or  tem¬ 
porary  stay,  is  required  to  name  the  religious  denomi¬ 
nation  to  which  he  belongs.  He  is  furnished  with  a 
blank  to  be  filled  out,  with  his  name,  age,  birthplace, 
nationality  and  religion,  and  upon  the  records  of  the 
municipality  he  appears  as  a  subject  of  the  represent¬ 
ative  of  the  religion  he  professes.  If  he  is  in  trouble 
or  commits  a  crime,  he  appeals  to,  or  is  brought  before 
the  representative  of  his  religion  in  the  council  or  the 
patriarch  of  his  church,  who  is  expected  to  see  that  he 
obeys  the  laws  and  behaves  himself,  and  punishes  him 
if  he  fails  to  do  so. 


432  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

The  Protestant  community  is  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishop  of  the  Established  Church  of  England 
and  the  protection  of  the  English  and  American  con¬ 
suls;  the  German  Protestants  are  under  the  German 
consul. 

The  Armenians  have  a  patriarch,  a  monastery,  a 
seminary,  a  nunnery  and  two  schools.  They  occupy 
an  interesting  section  of  Mount  Zion,  including  the 
house  of  Caiaphas,  the  high  priest,  before  whom  Jesus 
was  tried,  and  their  community,  although  not  large,  is, 
next  to  the  Greeks,  the  wealthiest  in  Palestine.  They 
have  their  share  of  the  sacred  places.  They  claim  the 
site  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  Apostle  St.  James,  which 
is  occupied  by  their  church,  next  to  that  of  the  Holy 
Sepulcher  the  largest  in  the  city,  and  the  richest  in 
ecclesiastical  decorations  and  sacred  vestments. 

In  their  little  chapel  opening  off  the  court  of  the 
house  of  Caiaphas,  they  show  another  stone  that  was 
rolled  away  from  the  door  of  the  sepulcher  by  the 
angel  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection;  point  out 
the  exact  spot  upon  which  Peter  stood  when  he  denied 
his  Lord,  and  the  roof  upon  which  the  cock  roosted 
when  it  crowed  three  times.  The  house  of  Caiaphas  is 
supposed  to  be  preserved  exactly  as  it  was  at  the  time 
of  Christ,  and  certainly  is  one  of  the  oldest  edifices  in 
Jerusalem.  The  court  is  not  so  large  as  I  expected  to 
find  it,  but  it  is  an  admirable  example  of  a  Saracenic 
cloister  and  is  painted  in  Oriental  colors.  The  cell  in 
which  Christ  was  confined  is  a  small  dungeon  built 
into  the  wall,  and  is  now  reached  through  the  chapel. 
Both  in  the  house  and  in  the  chapel  are  some  fine 
specimens  of  wood  carving  and  gilding,  and  hanging 
upon  the  wall  of  the  latter,  near  the  altar,  is  one  of 
those  trick  pictures  painted  upon  a  gridiron  of  tin 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  433 

which  shows  the  face  of  the  Savior  if  you  look  at  it 
from  one  direction,  the  face  of  St.  John  if  you  look  at 
it  from  another  and  that  of  the  Holy  Virgin  if  you 
stand  directly  in  front.  There  are  tombs  of  several 
Armenian  patriarchs  in  the  courtyard. 

The  Copts,  the  Maronites,  the  Abyssinians,  the 
Jacobites  and  several  other  Oriental  sects  have  monas¬ 
teries,  churches  and  schools,  and  some  of  them  claim 
possession  of  sacred  soil.  They  have  their  share  of 
the  pilgrims  and  take  care  of  them  in  their  own  hos¬ 
pices. 

The  Greek  monks  are  aggressive  and  vindictive  and 
are  much  the  stronger  both  in  numbers,  ability  and 
wealth,  and  have  several  advantages,  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  of  which  is  the  zealous  support  of  the  Russian 
consul  general,  who  is  beyond  question  the  most  influ¬ 
ential  man  in  Jerusalem  to-day.  Turkey  is  afraid  of 
the  czar.  The  sultan  knows  that  Russia  would  cheer¬ 
fully  accept  any  excuse  or  pretext  for  trouble;  he  also 
knows  that,  as  the  recognized  head  of  the  Greek 
church,  the  czar  would  be  very  glad  to  control  the 
Holy  Land.  This  feature  of  Eastern  politics  is  thor¬ 
oughly  understood  among  the  religious  fraternities  and 
the  clergy  here,  as  well  as  among  the  Turkish  officials. 

The  Greeks  are  united,  which  is  also  a  great  advan¬ 
tage.  They  have  no  factions  and  are  entirely  har¬ 
monious,  while  the  Roman  Catholics  are  badly  broken 
up  by  rivalries  between  the  several  religious  orders. 
Among  some  of  them  the  jealousy  is  almost  as  bitter 
as  between  the  Franciscans  and  the  Greeks.  The 
Franciscans  have  charge  of  the  holy  places  controlled 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  church  everywhere  in  Pales¬ 
tine,  which  is  a  cause  of  perpetual  dissatisfaction  and 
is  resented  by  some  of  the  other  orders.  In  a  division 


434  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

the  Armenians,  Copts  and  other  churches  side  with  the 
Greeks,  so  that  the  Latins  are  all  alone. 

The  Greek  patriarch  is  one  of  the  most  conspicuous 
men  in  Jerusalem.  He  lives  in  a  handsome  house, 
drives  the  finest  pair  of  horses  and  carriages  in  the 
city,  is  famous  for  his  social  qualities  and  makes  the 
most  of  his  position,  while  the  Franciscan  superior, 
who  is  recognized  as  the  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
community,  is  a  man  of  devout  habits  and  retiring  dis¬ 
position  and  seldom  leaves  the  seclusion  of  his  mon¬ 
astery. 

The  Greeks  have  control  of  most  of  the  holy  places 
and  practice  the  greatest  impositions  upon  the  pil¬ 
grims.  They  have  the  largest  and  finest  hospices, 
which  can  accommodate  9,000  or  10,000  pilgrims  at 
one  time.  Their  churches  are  the  most  imposing, 
their  hospitals  and  schools  are  more  extensive  than 
those  of  any  other  denomination.  The  Russian  hospice 
is  like  a  fortress,  surrounded  by  a  mighty  wall  cover¬ 
ing  an  immense  area.  It  is  the  only  nation  that  looks 
after  its  pilgrims  officially,  for  the  consul  general  of 
the  czar  has  his  residence  and  office  among  the  hos¬ 
pices  and  convents.  The  Russians  entertain  from 
50,000  to  60,000  pilgrims  every  year. 

Most  of  the  Roman  Catholic  institutions  are  French 
and  the  minister  of  education  and  religion  in  Paris 
exercises  a  general  supervision  for  sanitary  reasons 
over  the  convents,  hospices  and  other  places  intended 
for  the  entertainment  of  French  pilgrims,  who  are 
more  numerous  than  those  of  any  other  nation  except 
the  Russians.  It  is  a  rather  singular  fact  that  few  pil¬ 
grims  ever  come  from  Austria,  Italy  or  Spain,  the 
three  countries  supposed  to  be  most  loyal  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  church,  and  none  of  them  has  a  hos- 


RUSSIAN  PILGRIMS  ON  THE  WAY  TO  THE  JORDAN. 


THE  TOMB  OF  THE  REDEEMER  435 

pital  or  a  hospice  here.  The  Germans  have  a  fine  new 
church.  The  Roman  Catholic  institutions  are  more 
numerous  than  the  Russian,  but  are  not  so  extensive 
and  are  divided  among  several  brotherhoods  and  sis¬ 
terhoods.  The  Dominican  monks  have  a  very  large 
hospice,  and  can  entertain  at  least  2,000  pilgrims. 
The  Assumptionists  can  entertain  1,200,  the  Francis¬ 
cans  have  several  hospices,  hospitals  and  schools  and 
can  take  care  of  perhaps  3,000.  The  Sisters  of  the 
Redemption  have  a  new,  huge  building  that  is  both 
hospice  and  hospital,  and  there  are  several  other  insti¬ 
tutions  owned  and  managed  by  sisters  of  charity  and 
similar  orders.  One  of  the  finest  of  the  buildings  of 
the  Roman  Catholics  is  St.  Peter’s  School,  which  was 
founded  by  a  Jewish  banker  named  Ratisbon,  who  was 
converted  to  Roman  Catholicism  by  a  miracle  and  left 
all  of  his  money  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  his 
race,  and  for  their  conversion  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  His  story  is  a  strange  one.  While  he  was  a 
young  man  in  Rome  he  entered  a  Roman  Catholic 
church  from  curiosity  to  see  a  famous  picture  of  the 
Madonna,  and,  while  he  was  gazing  at  it  with  admira¬ 
tion,  the  figure  seemed  to  leave  the  canvas  and 
approach  him.  He  fell  upon  his  knees.  When  the 
apparition  reached  him  the  Holy  Mother  placed  her 
hand  upon  his  head,  and,  in  a  gentle,  but  sad  voice  said: 

“Why  do  you  reject  my  Son?” 

There  are  several  Protestant  hospitals  and  schools  in 
Jerusalem,  conducted  by  both  Americans  and  British, 
and  the  German  Lutherans  are  also  quite  active. 
Protestant  missionaries  came  into  Palestine  soon  after 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Few  Mos¬ 
lems  or  Jews  have  been  converted,  but  both  recognize 
the  usefulness  of  Christianity  through  its  schools  and 


436  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


medical  missions.  The  agents  of  the  American  Board 
of  Foreign  Missions  were  first  upon  the  ground  and 
have  worked  the  longest  and  most  effectively.  They 
translated  the  Bible  into  the  popular  language,  set  up 
the  first  printing  press,  opened  the  first  hospital  and 
the  first  school.  Then  came  the  Irish  and  Scotch 
Presbyterians,  the  Established  Church  of  England,  and 
after  them  the  representatives  of  every  sect  that  calls 
itself  religious. 


XXII 

The  Moslems  of  Jerusalem 


437 


XXII 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM 

Jerusalem  is  a  place  of  overwhelming  interest  to  all 
Christendom,  and  is  almost  as  sacred  to  the  followers 
of  Mohammed  as  to  the  followers  of  Christ,  but  every¬ 
body  who  goes  there  in  a  reverential  spirit  is  sure  to 
be  disappointed  and  regretful  and  will  often  wish  that 
he  had  stayed  away.  So  many  illusions  are  dispelled, 
so  many  ideals  are  shattered,  so  many  cherished 
memories  are  violated,  so  much  confidence  is  shaken. 
Every  holy  and  historical  place  is  disputed — almost 
every  spot  in  the  entire  city  of  any  public  interest,  the 
line  of  every  wall,  the  position  of  every  palace,  temple 
and  synagogue,  the  location  of  every  gate,  the  site  of 
every  scene  connected  with  the  life  of  the  Savior,  the 
name  of  every  pool;  several  of  the  most  important 
places  are  duplicated,  and  in  one  instance  triplicated. 
The  mercenary  spirit  pervades  every  part  of  the  com¬ 
munity,  which  makes  its  living  off  pilgrims  and  tour¬ 
ists,  and  will  find  holy  places  and  arguments  and 
evidence  to  support  them  as  long  as  trustful  and  con¬ 
fiding  people  are  willing  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of 
seeing  them.  Those  who  are  competent  to  speak  on 
such  subjects  say  that  the  longer  you  stay  and  the 
oftener  you  come  to  Jerusalem  the  more  rapidly  these 
objections  diminish  in  importance  and  the  greater  will 
be  the  interest  which  the  ruins  and  traditions  inspire; 
but  everybody  will  always  be  obliged  to  confess  the 
degraded  aspect  of  the  people,  the  material  and  moral 
decline  of  the  city,  the  filth  and  wretchedness  of  the 

439 


440  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


homes,  the  cheap  and  tawdry  decorations  of  the 
churches,  and  the  inappropriateness  of  the  monu¬ 
ments.  Superstition  and  fanaticism,  formalism  and 
avarice  are  the  chief  characteristics  of  the  modern 
city,  once  the  fountain  head  from  which  the  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  true  God  was  diffused  to  the  children  of 
men,  and  after  a  few  days’  experience  you  feel  like 
buttoning  up  your  pockets  when  you  kneel  to  pray 
before  a  sacred  shrine. 

Jerusalem  is  not  a  town  for  amusement  or  recreation; 
for  everything  is  tinged  with  religious  sentiment  and 
relates  to  Scriptural  history.  There  is  nothing  to 
attract  a  traveler  but  shrines  and  memories,  and  the 
air  is  full  of  controversy,  jealousy,  and  doubt. 

There  is  nothing  beautiful  in  or  about  the  city 
except  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  which  is  one  of  the 
sublimest  conceptions  of  Saracenic  architecture  in 
existence.  Although  we  sing  of  the  glory,  the  purity 
and  happiness  of  Jerusalem,  it  is  one  of  the  most 
repulsive  places  in  all  the  world.  The  old  city  is  a 
mass  of  stone  masonry,  separated  by  narrow  streets 
and  courts  and  surrounded  by  a  wall  thirty-eight  feet 
high  and  altogether  two  and  a  half  miles  in  length. 
There  are  few  open  spaces,  the  streets  are  crooked; 
many  of  them  are  blind  alleys,  and  those  in  the  busi¬ 
ness  districts  are  vaulted  over.  There  are  no  sewers 
and  none  but  surface  drainage.  All  the  filth  and  offal 
of  unmentionable  sorts  is  dumped  upon  the  pavement 
for  the  dogs  to  scatter  and  the  rain  to  wash  away.  In 
wet  weather  the  streets  are  stinking  cesspools,  and 
when  they  dry  up  the  mixture  is  ground  to  powder 
beneath  the  hoofs  of  camels  and  donkeys  and  the  san¬ 
dals  of  men,  blown  into  the  air  and  absorbed  into  the 
throats  and  nostrils,  the  eyes  and  ears  of  man  and 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  441 

beast,  with  myriads  of  microbes  of  all  varieties.  You 
actually  have  to  hold  your  nose  as  you  walk  down  the 
Via  Doloroso,  the  most  holy  and  interesting  street  in 
the  world,  sanctified  by  the  feet  of  the  Savior  who  fol¬ 
lowed  it  as  He  bore  the  cross  to  Calvary. 

The  streets  inside  the  walls  are  as  unsafe  at  night  as 
they  are  repulsive  by  day.  Strangers,  particularly 
foreigners  or  Christians,  should  never  wander  out  by 
themselves  after  dark.  They  are  strictly  warned 
against  such  folly,  because  it  is  a  Moslem  town,  in 
which  business  is  suspended  from  sunset  to  sunrise  and 
becomes  like  a  city  of  the  dead  after  dark.  In  the 
older  portions  there  are  no  street  lights,  no  gas,  no 
electricity,  not  even  petroleum  lamps.  When  dark¬ 
ness  falls  the  bazaars  are  closed,  the  shutters  are  put 
up,  the  camels  and  donkeys  are  turned  into  the  corrals 
at  the  khans,  and  the  people  retire  behind  the  high 
blank  walls  that  inclose  their  habitations.  Those  who 
are  compelled  to  go  out  on  honest  business  have  lan¬ 
terns  carried  before  them.  A  man  going  home  with¬ 
out  a  light  is  apt  to  be  arrested  for  a  suspicious 
character.  But  this  is  not  the  greatest  danger.  In 
passing  through  the  streets  at  night  a  stranger  is  apt  to 
be  touched  by  a  leper,  or  bitten  by  a  cur,  or  stabbed 
by  a  Mohammedan  fanatic. 

The  latter  are  the  worst  of  all  assassins,  because  they 
strike  without  reason,  and  their  religion  not  only  justi¬ 
fies  but  rewards  them  for  taking  the  lives  of  unbe¬ 
lievers.  While  the  police  and  military  are  always  on 
the  lookout  for  these  “fakirs,”  and  punish  them  with 
instant  death  if  detected,  the  penalty  has  no  terror  for 
them  and  it  is  impossible  for  strangers  to  guard 
against  them  because  they  cannot  distinguish  between 
people.  All  Christians  look  alike  to  them.  Some  of 


442  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  “fakirs,”  after  having  made  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca  or  to  the  Mosque  of  Omar  in  Jerusalem,  go  out 
into  the  world  to  fulfill  vows  they  have  made  to  kill 
or  chastise  “giaours/’  as  Christians  are  called,  for  the 
sake  of  the  faith,  or  for  some  imaginary  slight  to  or 
profanation  of  their  religion.  Strangers  who  visit 
mosques  must  always  take  a  soldier  or  a  kavass  from 
their  consulate  with  them  to  protect  themselves  against 
possible  assault  from  these  fanatics. 

Many  of  the  common  trades  are  conducted  in  the 
streets,  and  the  thoroughfares  ordinarily  followed  by 
strangers  and  tourists  are  lined  on  both  sides  with 
peddlers,  who  clamor  for  custom.  The  Arab  has  no 
names  for  the  streets  of  his  cities,  although  he  has  a 
dozen  terms  to  describe  a  camel  trail  or  path  in  the 
mountains.  Only  two  streets  are  mentioned  in  the 
Bible — the  “Street  of  the  Bakers”  in  Jerusalem,  and 
the  “Street  That  Is  Called  Straight”  in  Damascus.  In 
Oriental  cities  streets  seldom  have  fixed  names.  By 
common  consent  they  are  called  after  the  most  con¬ 
spicuous  inhabitant  or  the  trades  that  are  carried  on  in 
them.  Thus,  State  street  would  be  called  the  “Street 
of  the  Bargain  Counters,”  or  Wabash  avenue  the 
“Street  With  the  Bad  Pavement.”  In  Jerusalem  we 
find  Crockery  street,  the  Street  of  the  Goldsmiths, 
Christian  street  and  similar  names. 

The  relics  of  all  ages  both  obstruct  and  adorn  the 
alleys  of  Jerusalem.  Here  and  there  the  broken  col¬ 
umn  of  an  old  temple  is  used  for  building  material,  an 
ancient  Egyptian  sarcophagus  for  a  fountain,  a 
Corinthian  capital  for  the  lintel  of  a  doorway,  and  a 
portion  of  a  pillar  that  may  have  sustained  the  roof  of 
a  palace  may  be  built  into  a  garden  wall.  Occasion¬ 
ally  you  come  across  choice  bits  of  architectural  design 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  443 


concealed  by  the  high  walls  and  the  crooked  lanes. 
Down  on  David  street,  for  example,  are  several  exqui¬ 
site  doorways  that  have  an  antique  look,  and  undoubt¬ 
edly  were  built  long  before  the  crusades.  The 
moldings,  carvings  and  ornamental  work  upon  the 
gateways  of  the  old  walls  that  surround  the  city  are 
superior  to  anything  you  can  find  in  modern  buildings. 
The  early  Saracenic  architecture  is  as  pure  as  the 
classic  Greek,  and  is  especially  adapted  for  mosques 
and  fountains,  which  are  the  two  chief  classes  of  build¬ 
ings  with  which  the  Moslem  cities  are  adorned,  and  the 
Arabic  letters  used  for  quotations  from  the  Koran  lend 
themselves  admirably  for  decorative  effects.  There 
are  several  beautiful  fountains  in  Jerusalem,  and  some 
of  them  are  very  old,  but  the  lack  of  proper  records 
and  the  frequent  destruction  and  devastation  of  the 
city  prevent  their  history  from  being  searched.  All  of 
them  are  decorated  with  inscriptions  from  the  Koran, 
calling  upon  every  one  that  thirsteth  to  drink,  and  to 
drink  freely,  and  the  invitation  is  not  declined.  The 
Mohammedan,  like  the  Japanese,  is  always  washing 
whenever  he  can  find  water,  and  does  not  hesitate  to 
use  the  public  street  as  a  bathroom.  Camel  drivers 
coming  in  from  the  desert,  hot,  weary,  dusty  and 
thirsty,  will  stop  at  the  first  fountain  and  strip  for  a 
wash,  and  every  true  believer  who  pretends  to  observe 
the  injunctions  of  the  prophet  and  the  teachings  of  the 
Koran  bathes  himself  at  least  five  times  a  day. 

The  most  imposing  architecture  in  the  city,  always 
excepting  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  which  is  incompar¬ 
able,  is  found  in  the  gates,  which  are  better  preserved 
than  those  of  any  other  city  in  the  East.  Only  one  of 
them  dates  back  to  the  Roman  era.  Most  of  them 
were  built  in  the  middle  ages,  either  by  the  Saracens 


444  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


or  the  crusaders,  but,  with  their  flanking  towers,  tur¬ 
rets  and  battlements,  are  fine  specimens  of  the  archi¬ 
tecture  and  the  masonry  of  their  period.  The 
Damascus  gate  is  especially  imposing,  and  through  it 
runs  the  great  highway  to  Nablus  and  Damascus,  which 
is  at  least  4,000  years  old.  The  street  from  the  inside 
leads  int  othe  Via  Doloroso,  to  the  Prsetorium  of  Pilate, 
and  is  used  as  confirmation  of  the  theory  that  the  cruci¬ 
fixion  did  not  take  place  upon  the  site  of  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher,  but  outside  the  present  walls. 

St.  Stephen’s  gate,  which  is  another  beautiful  exam¬ 
ple  of  Saracenic  architecture,  takes  its  name  from  the 
tradition  that  the  first  Christian  martyr  was  stoned  to 
death  near  by.  The  Arabs  call  it  the  Gate  of  the 
Tribes.  But  St.  Stephen’s  is  a  place  to  avoid,  because 
it  is  haunted  by  lepers,  the  most  loathsome  creatures 
you  can  imagine,  with  their  fingers  half  eaten  up  by 
the  creeping  disease,  their  bodies  covered  with  ulcers 
and  the  stumps  of  their  arms  and  limbs  with  festering 
sores.  There  is  nothing  so  repulsive  in  all  the  world 
as  a  leper,  and  although  modern  medical  science 
insists  that  the  disease  cannot  be  communicated  by 
ordinary  contact,  and  that  the  poison  must  be  absorbed 
through  some  bruise  or  broken  place  in  the  skin,  you 
nevertheless  shrink  from  them  with  abhorrence,  and 
they,  knowing  and  appreciating  this  feeling,  are 
emboldened  to  pursue  those  who  show  fear  until  they 
obtain  money.  There  is  a  comfortable  leper  hospital 
down  near  the  Pool  of  Siloam,  but  the  poor  afflicted 
people  will  not  go  into  it  except  in  cold  weather. 
When  spring  comes  and  the  tourist  season  opens  they 
leaves  the  hospital  and  lie  around  in  the  sunshine  in 
certain  spots  most  frequented  by  strangers  outside  the 
walls.  They  are  not  allowed  to  come  inside  the 


JERUSALEM  FROM  THE  MOUNT  OF  OLIVES. 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  445 


gates.  They  sit  at  the  gate  of  Zion,  like  Lazarus  at 
the  door  of  Dives,  and  when  they  see  a  party  of 
pilgrims  or  tourists  approaching  they  crawl  into  the 
street,  stretch  out  their  hands  in  a  most  beseeching 
manner,  and  utter  piteous  appeals  that  are  incoherent 
because  their  tongues  are  usually  eaten  away.  At  the 
gate  of  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  at  the  tomb  of  the 
.  Holy  Virgin,  at  the  Pool  of  Siloam  and  on  the  path 
to  Mount  Olivet  they  are  found  in  large  numbers. 

Another  nuisance  that  might  be  more  easily  abated 
if  the  authorities  of  the  city  would  take  a  little  interest 
in  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  strangers,  is  the  ordinary 
beggars.  Most  of  them  are  professionals,  who  take 
up  that  occupation  at  the  beginning  of  the  tourist 
season,  and  find  it  quite  profitable;  much  more  so  than 
any  honest  labor.  A  man  with  a  maimed  limb  or  a 
repulsive  sore  can  make  a  good  living  six  months  in 
the  year,  and  an  old  woman  with  a  borrowed  baby  can 
pick  up  more  baksheesh  by  hanging  around  the  holy 
places  than  she  can  earn  in  any  other  way. 

From  the  sacrifice  of  Abraham  to  the  conquest  of 
Joshua  we  hear  nothing  of  Jerusalem  in  the  Bible.  At 
the  time  of  the  exodus  it  was  called  Jebus  and  was  a 
fortified  place.  Its  king  was  slain  by  the  Israelites  at 
the  great  battle  of  Gibeon,  but  the  city  was  not  cap¬ 
tured  until  the  reign  of  David,  who  transferred  the 
government  from  Hebron  to  Zion,  and  ever  afterward 
Jerusalem  was  the  capital  of  the  Jewish  nation  and  the 
center  of  its  faith  and  worship.  It  was  besieged  many 
times  from  David’s  reign,  demolished  by  the  Baby¬ 
lonians,  badly  damaged  by  the  invasion  of  Pompey, 
and  finally  destroyed  by  Titus  in  the  year  70  A.  D., 
after  a  siege  of  nearly  five  months.  Soon  afterward  it 
was  resettled  by  both  Jews  and  Romans,  and  the  for- 


446  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tress  was  rebuilt.  In  132,  when  the  Jews  rebelled 
against  Emperor  Hadrian,  Jerusalem  was  again 
destroyed.  Hadrian  rebuilt  it  and  called  it  .TElia,  and 
for  several  generations  it  was  known  by  that  name. 
Constantine  restored,  enriched  and  adorned  it,  and  his 
mother,  the  Empress  Helena,  set  the  fashion  of  pil¬ 
grimages  to  its  sacred  sites,  which  have  continued 
from  all  parts  of  the  world  down  to  the  present  hour. 
Since  then  Jerusalem  has  suffered  terrible  calamities, 
having  twice  been  destroyed  by  the  Romans,  once  by 
the  Persians,  and  very  nearly  so  by  the  crusaders,  who 
captured  and  held  possession  of  it  for  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  years.  Then,  in  1187,  it  was  given  up  to  Saladin 
and  the  flag  of  Mohammedan  has  since  floated  over 
the  tower  of  David. 

According  to  the  calculations  of  Josephus,  Jerusalem 
was  2,127  years  old  when  overthrown  by  Titus,  which 
makes  its  present  age  3,959  years.  More  than  any 
other  city  on  earth  has  it  been  the  focus  of  human 
interest;  more  than  any  other  city  has  it  influenced  the 
religious  character  of  the  human  race.  It  is  the  shrine 
of  more  than  half  the  world’s  population;  the  Holy 
City  of  Christendom,  sanctified  by  the  sufferings  and 
the  death  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  founder  of  the  Christian 
religion  and  the  Redeemer  of  Men,  and  yet  it  remains 
in  the  control  of  Mohammedans. 

Both  the  Philistines  and  the  Hebrews  were  immi¬ 
grants  and  invaders;  both  came  from  Egypt  into  the 
land  over  which  they  fought  for  centuries;  both 
absorbed  the  Canaanites,  who  originally  owned  and 
occupied  it.  Israel  survived,  under  the  favor  of  God, 
and  the  Philistines,  who  worshiped  Dagon,  disap¬ 
peared,  although  they  fastened  their  name  upon  the 
country — Palestine,  a  corruption  of  Philistine.  Saul, 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  447 


Samson,  David,  Hezekiah  and  other  Hebrew  leaders 
fought  to  control  the  entire  territory,  but  the  Philis¬ 
tines  did  not  yield  until  the  invasion  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  and  the  introduction  of  Greek  culture  and  civil¬ 
ization.  The  Babylonian  captivity  disintegrated  the 
Jewish  nation.  It  has  never  since  been  reunited  or 
recovered  its  power  or  prestige;  it  has  never  since 
occupied  the  land  that  the  Lord  God  gave  it,  but  is 
scattered  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  The  covenant  with 
Israel  was  forever  and  ever,  but  remains  unfulfilled,  and 
in  the  meantime  an  alien  race  has  temporal  and  spirit¬ 
ual  jurisdiction  in  the  Holy  City  and  over  the  Promised 
Land. 

In  the  light  of  Christ’s  teachings,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  the  mysterious  triumph  of  Mohammedanism 
over  Christianity  at  His  birthplace,  at  His  home,  and 
at  His  tomb,  and  in  the  very  theater  of  His  activity;  it  is 
difficult  to  interpret  the  Divine  Judgment  which  has 
placed  the  keys  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  and  the  cradle 
of  Christ  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  Perhaps  the 
early  church  of  Christ  was  trampled  down  by  Islam 
because  it  was  corrupt  and  deserved  to  fall,  and  later, 
in  attempting  to  regain  its  birthplace  during  the  mid¬ 
dle  ages,  Christianity  failed,  perhaps  because  it  was 
cruel,  wicked,  selfish  and  avaricious.  Upon  the  very 
soil  where  Jesus  taught  the  ignorant,  and  healed  the 
sick,  and  cured  the  blind,  preached  the  gospel  of 
brotherly  love  and  charity  and  compassion;  in  the  very 
towns  where  He  went  about  doing  good,  wiping  the 
tears  from  the  eyes  of  sorrowful  women  and  blessing 
little  children  that  were  brought  to  His  knee,  the 
treacherous  and  brutal  crusaders,  who  carried  His  cross 
and  proclaimed  His  name,  never  allowed  the  sword  to 
leave  their  hands,  but  slaughtered  their  prisoners  and 


448  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


swept  down  the  unoffending  population  with  murder, 
fire,  rapine  and  robbery. 

Seen  beneath  the  shadow  of  their  great  failure,  the 
crusaders  are  admirable  only  as  the  heroes  of  chivalry 
and  romance,  and  for  the  infinite  courage  and  endur¬ 
ance  they  displayed.  By  their  followers  Palestine  was 
settled,  organized  and  built  over  as  completely  as 
medieval  England.  Fortresses  arose  upon  the  coast, 
huge  castles  upon  the  high  places  of  the  interior  and 
the  ruins  of  cities,  churches  and  cloisters  scattered  all 
over  the  land  testify  to  their  labor  and  enterprise  and 
sacrifices,  which,  however,  were  neutralized  by  jeal¬ 
ousies,  intrigue  and  quarrels  which  left  the  land  with¬ 
out  protection  and  opened  it  to  the  victorious  Saracen. 

Upon  the  crumbling  walls  of  the  crusader  castles 
have  arisen  the  wretched  villages  of  the  Mohammedan 
population,  and  among  them  occasionally  during  the 
past  century  have  appeared  flourishing  schools  of 
almost  every  sect  in  Christendom;  hospitals,  asylums, 
sanitariums,  orphanages  and  other  institutions  of 
benevolence,  which  bear  witness  that  this  generation  of 
Christians  are  mindful  of  His  teachings  and  have  come 
again  into  His  native  country,  not  with  the  sword  and 
torch,  as  before,  but  with  food  for  the  hungry,  scien¬ 
tific  skill  for  healing  diseases  and  books  for  the  educa¬ 
tion  and  the  elevation  of  the  races  which  now  occupy 
the  land;  and  the  long  processions  of  pilgrims  per¬ 
petually  winding  their  way  to  Jerusalem  from  all  the 
corners  of  th-e  earth  are  evidence  that  love  and  devo¬ 
tion  for  the  Holy  City  are  still  aflame  in  the  minds  of 
the  followers  of  Jesus  as  well  as  among  those  who 
claim  the  right  and  title  to  graves  upon  the  slopes  of 
Olivet  and  Zion  and  in  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 

The  Mosque  of  Omar,  or  “The  Dome  of  the  Rock,” 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  449 


as  the  Arabs  call  it,  according  to  the  best  authorities, 
occupies  the  site  of  Solomon’s  Temple,  the  ancient 
Mount  Moriah.  It  looks  over  a  steep  embankment 
into  the  deep  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  with  the  Garden 
of  Gethsemane  and  Mount  Olivet  on  the  other  side. 
It  is  an  immense  paved  area  with  what  the  Syrians  call 
a  garden,  containing  walks  of  gravel,  a  few  plants  and 
flowers,  a  little  wild  grass,  clumps  of  undergrowth  and 
groups  of  cypresses,  and,  hugging  the  walls,  a  lux¬ 
uriant  crop  of  prickly  pears.  In  the  center  of  this 
great  square,  upon  a  low  marble  pedestal,  is  one  of  the 
most  exquisite  specimens  of  Saracenic  architecture 
human  genius  could  conceive.  I  had  always  consid¬ 
ered  St.  Mark’s  Cathedral  and  the  Doges’  Palace  at 
Venice  the  most  beautiful  buildings  in  the  world,  but 
that  was  before  I  had  seen  the  Mosque  of  Omar. 
Screens  and  colonnades  of  remarkable  beauty,  porches 
supported  by  slender,  graceful  pillars,  kiosks,  altars, 
fountains  and  reservoirs  for  the  ablutions  before  prayer 
surround  this  matchless  structure,  and  a  few  hundred 
feet  away,  at  the  end  of  a  gentle  slope,  is  another, 
equally  sacred  to  Moslems,  called  the  Mosque  el 
Aksa,  which  stands  upon  the  foundations  of  Solomon’s 
palace  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  formerly  a  Chris¬ 
tian  church,  erected  by  Justinian. 

The  walls  of  these  mosques  represent  Saracenic  art 
of  the  best  period  and  remind  you  of  the  Alhambra  at 
Grenada,  the  Alcazar  at  Seville  and  other  Moorish 
buildings  in  Spain.  Their  graceful  lines  and  delicate 
traceries  are  in  striking  contrast  with  the  rugged  and 
shapeless  structures  of  the  Jews.  The  Jews  have  never 
excelled  in  art.  During  the  entire  history  of  the 
nation  they  did  not  produce  a  picture  or  a  statue  or  a 
building  that  would  compare  with  the  ordinary  works 


1 


450  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


of  the  Greeks.  The  only  architectural  monuments 
erected  in  Jerusalem  during  their  time — the  temple 
and  palace  of  Solomon,  were  the  work  of  Phoenician 
architects,  loaned  by  Hiram  of  Tyre. 

The  domes,  the  colonnades,  the  fountains  and  the 
pulpits  that  surround  the  Mosques  of  Omar  and  El 
Aksa  make  the  most  beautiful  group  of  architecture  in 
the  East.  The  marble  octagon  that  surrounds  and  the 
shapely  dome  that  shelters  the  sacred  rock  of  Islam, 
are  not  surpassed  for  grace,  beauty  or  strength  in  all 
the  universe,  and  historical  associations  give  them 
incomparable  interest.  Many  people  believe  that  the 
father  of  the  faithful  came  to  the  summit  of  Mount 
Moriah  to  offer  up  his  first-born  and  well-beloved  son 
Isaac;  here  the  ark  of  the  covenant  rested;  here  was 
the  threshing  floor  where  stood  the  angel  that  was 
about  to  destroy  Jerusalem,  and  which  King  David  was 
commanded  to  purchase  of  Araunah,  the  Jebusite,  that 
he  might  rear  an  altar  to  the  Lord;  here  Solomon 
appeared  in  all  his  glory,  with  the  congregation  of 
Israel  before  him,  and  erected  the  most  magnificent 
building  of  his  age  without  the  sound  of  hammer  or 
saw,  to  which  all  the  world  contributed  its  treasures; 
here  “the  cloud  filled  the  house  of  the  Lord”  and 
Solomon  said,  “I  have  surely  built  Thee  a  house  to 
dwell  in,  a  settled  place  for  Thee  to  abide  in  forever;” 
here  Christ  worshiped  and  taught;  here  He  drove  the 
traders  out  of  His  Father’s  house,  and  the  veil,  the 
portico,  of  this  temple  was  rent  in  twain  when  the 
Man  on  the  Cross  was  spending  His  last  breath  in  a 
prayer  for  His  enemies.  Millions  have  prayed,  tens  of 
thousands  have  perished  upon  this  hilltop,  and  it  has 
been  the  scene  of  some  of  the  most  awful  events  in 
history,  both  human  and  divine. 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  451 

The  Holy  House  was  burned  and  overthrown  by  the 
Babylonians,  and  the  ruins  were  not  removed  for 
more  than  a  century,  but  when  the  temple  was  rebuilt 
and  rededicated  this  area  must  have  been  crowded  with 
the  members  of  the  Hebrew  nation  who  had  survived 
the  captivity.  After  the  lapse  of  four  more  troubled 
centuries  the  temple  was  again  destroyed.  Herod  the 
Great  rebuilt  it  in  forty  and  six  years,  but  his  monu¬ 
ment  lasted  only  a  century,  for  then  came  Titus  with 
his  Roman  legions,  and  Jerusalem  and  the  Jewish 
nation  suffered  horrors  that  were  unparalleled  in 
human  history  up  to  that  date.  The  temple  was 
sacked  and  burned,  so  that  not  one  stone  was  left 
upon  another,  in  fulfillment  of  the  curse  of  Christ. 
Here  God  promised  that  the  covenant  with  Jacob 
should  be  fulfilled  if  his  children  remained  faithful, 
but  if  not  “then  will  I  cut  off  Israel  out  of  the  land 
that  I  have  given  it.” 

The  evidences  of  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy  appear 
everywhere  in  Palestine  with  striking  force  and  are 
incontestable.  No  Christian  can  enter  this  mosque 
except  with  a  military  guard  to  protect  his  life,  and 
upon  its  sacred  soil  a  Jew  may  not  so  much  as  set  his 
foot. 

According  to  the  opinions  of  the  Biblical  arche¬ 
ologists  the  Temples  of  Solomon  and  of  Herod  occu¬ 
pied  the  exact  site  upon  which  the  Kubbet  es  Sukrah — 
the  Mosque  of  Omar — now  stands,  and  with  their 
inclosing  colonnades,  courts  and  cloisters  occupied  a 
space  900  feet  from  east  to  west  and  600  feet  from 
north  to  south.  It  is  also  believed  that  the  eastern 
walls  of  the  inclosure  were  laid  in  Solomon’s  time, 
because  the  explorers  have  found  the  ciphers  and  signs 
of  the  Phoenician  builders  chiseled  in  the  foundation 


452  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


stones,  and  it  is  very  certain  that  no  architects  of  that 
race  have  been  here  since  the  death  of  Hiram,  King 
of  Tyre. 

This  holy  and  historical  inclosure  is  approached 
through  another  series  of  filthy  streets  like  those 
which  lead  to  the  Church  of  the  Sepulcher,  and  to 
make  the  journey  one  needs  a  pair  of  rubber  boots, 
plenty  of  disinfectants  and  a  microbe  screen  over  his 
mouth  and  nostrils.  He  also  requires  a  military 
guard.  If  the  consul  of  his  nation  cannot  spare  the 
kavass,  or  official  guard  recognized  by  the  govern¬ 
ment,  it  is  necessary  to  apply  for  a  soldier  from  the 
garrison  as  protection  against  Moslem  fanatics  and 
fakirs,  who  resent  the  intrusion  of  curious  Christians 
into  their  shrine.  We  had  a  sergeant  of  artillery,  an 
intelligent,  deferential  man,  who  took  a  great  interest 
in  promoting  our  knowledge  and  pleasure. 

The  grounds  around  the  temple  and  the  various 
little  buildings  here  and  there,  fountains,  kiosks,  pul¬ 
pits  and  praying  places,  all  deserve  special  attention, 
for  each  has  its  individuality  and  traditions.  One  of 
the  praying  places  is  said  to  have  been  built  especially 
for  Fatima,  the  daughter  of  Mohammed;  another  is 
believed  to  be  the  judgment  seat  of  King  David,  and 
situated  a  little  south  of  the  mosque  is  one  of  the  most 
exquisite  specimens  of  Oriental  architecture — a  series 
of  pointed  arches  and  a  marble  pulpit  for  outdoor 
preaching. 

The  mosque  is  an  octagon,  each  side  measuring 
sixty-seven  feet,  and  its  dome  is  170  feet  in  height. 
We  were  met  at  the  entrance  by  several  Mohammedan 
moulahs,  who  took  charge  of  our  sticks  and  umbrellas, 
and  gave  us  felt  slippers  to  draw  over  our  boots.  One 
of  them  was  inclined  to  be  ugly.  Angry  words  passed 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  453 

between  him  and  our  dragoman,  and  at  one  time  it 
looked  as  if  he  would  keep  us  out  of  the  holy  place, 
but  a  tall  priest,  with  a  long  beard  and  a  white  turban, 
who  seemed  to  be  the  head  of  affairs,  intervened, 
brushed  away  the  remonstrant,  and  led  us  through 
the  curtains  himself.  We  found  ourselves  under  a 
dome  of  indescribable  beauty,  its  surface  enameled 
with  the  most  delicate  tracery  of  brown  and  gold,  and 
its  windows  filled  with  ancient  stained  glass  of  mar¬ 
velous  colors.  The  wainscoting  is  of  Damascus  tiles, 
decorated  with  delicate  arabesques,  and  the  floor  is 
covered  with  rich  Persian  rugs.  The  first  thought  that 
came  into  my  mind  was,  why  cannot  the  Christian 
world  raise  so  beautiful  a  tabernacle  over  the  tomb  of 
Christ? 

In  the  center  of  the  mosque,  directly  below  the 
dome,  surrounded  by  twelve  columns  and  a  gilded  iron 
railing,  and  overhung  with  a  canopy  of  crimson  silk,  is 
the  great  limestone  rock  called  “Es  Sukhrah,  ”  about 
sixty  by  forty  feet  in  size,  and  twelve  feet  from  the 
surrounding  floor  at  its  highest  point.  For  two  thou¬ 
sand  years  it  was  the  altar  of  God,  from  which  His 
chosen  people  offered  Him  praise  and  incense  and 
made  sacrifices  in  His  honor.  It  is  a  rugged  mass  of 
stone,  and  except  for  steps  chiseled  in  one  side  of  it 
by  the  crusaders,  it  remains  as  nature  made  it  in  the 
beginning,  millions  of  years  ago,  and  will  probably  lie 
there  until  it  crumbles  and  its  atoms  disappear  in  the 
final  cataclysm.  In  the  center  is  a  sort  of  natural 
basin,  the  top  surface  being  slightly  concave,  and  a 
hole  has  been  drilled  through  into  a  subterranean  cav¬ 
ern  by  which  the  blood  of  the  sacrifices  was  carried 
away.  This  cavern  is  called  “The  Well  of  the  Souls,” 
and  many  interesting  superstitions  are  attached  to  it. 


454  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


According  to  the  Mohammedan  tradition,  it  was  the 
praying  place  of  Abraham,  David,  Solomon  and  Jesus, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  most  sacred  spots  on  earth. 

At  one  corner  of  the  stone  is  shown  a  depression 
called  the  footprint  of  Mohammed,  showing  where  the 
prophet’s  foot  last  touched  the  earth  as  he  departed 
on  his  heavenward  journey,  and  a  little  farther  away 
another  depression  shows  where  the  archangel  Gabriel 
laid  his  hand  upon  the  rock  and  held  it  down  by  main 
force  when  it  was  rising  with  Mohammed. 

“When  Mohammed  he  go  heaven,  holy  rock  he  say 
he  go  too,”  was  the  explanation  given  us  by  Isa,  our 
dragoman,  whose  English  vocabulary  and  information 
concerning  Scriptural  history  are  not  natural,  but 
acquired.  “And  Angel  Gabriel  he  put  his  paw  on  it 
here  and  he  say,  No  rock,  you  can’t  go  with  Moham¬ 
med.  You  must  stay.  I  keep  you.  And  so  the  rock 
he  stay  down.  ” 

In  an  exquisite  casket  of  gold  are  two  hairs  from  the 
beard  of  the  prophet,  and  once  every  year,  upon  a 
certain  anniversary,  they  are  carried  seven  times 
around  the  mosque  under  a  canopy  by  the  highest 
ecclesiastics  of  the  Mohammedan  church,  followed  by 
a  reverential  procession,  consisting  of  the  governor, 
the  officials,  the  military  and  the  priests. 

This  rock  is  quite  as  sacred  as  the  black  stone  of 
Mecca,  not  only  because  of  its  historical  associations, 
but  because  the  Musselmans  believe  that  the  Almighty 
will  take  His  seat  upon  it  at  the  last  judgment  day. 

The  courts,  the  walls,  the  pillars  of  the  successive 
temples  that  have  stood  here  have  vanished,  yet  this 
rock  remains,  truly  the  Rock  of  Ages — immortal, 
immovable,  and  as  solid  as  the  earth  itself. 

As  we  were  passing  out  a  priest  called  our  attention 


THE  MOSLEMS  OF  JERUSALEM  455 

to  a  stone  slab  into  which  the  prophet  Mohammed 
(who,  by  the  way,  was  never  in  Jerusalem)  drove  nine¬ 
teen  golden  nails.  At  the  end  of  every  century,  and 
sometimes  when  events  of  momentous  importance  to 
the  church  happen,  the  devil  removes  one  of  them. 
He  has  managed  to  draw  out  all  but  three,  and  a  fourth 
remains  crooked  and  broken  in  the  stone.  The  Angel 
Gabriel  caught  him  in  time  and  caused  him  to  break 
the  last  one  that  he  tried  to  draw.  When  he  draws 
the  rest  the  world  will  come  to  an  end. 

The  Mosque  el  Aksa,  as  I  have  already  said,  is 
supposed  to  stand  upon  the  foundations  of  the  palace 
of  Solomon,  and  the  grand  arcade  or  cloister  erected 
by  Herod  also  occupied  the  same  area  and  extended  a 
distance  of  900  feet.  Josephus  says,  “It  deserves  to 
be  mentioned  better  than  any  other  under  the  sun.” 
It  is  supposed  to  have  been  what  the  New  Testament 
frequently  refers  to  as  Solomon’s  porch  remodeled. 
Here,  St.  John  tells  us,  “Jesus  walked  in  the  temple  in 
Solomon’s  porch,”  when  the  Jews  came  to  Him  and 
demanded,  “If  Thou  be  the  Christ,  tell  us  plainly.” 
From  here  also  Jesus  is  supposed  to  have  driven  the 
traders  from  the  temple.  Isa  pointed  out  the  exact 
spot  and  explained:  “Our  Lord  He  come  here  and  He 
see  the  peddlers  cheating  and  swindling  people  and 
He  say,  Go  off;  go  away  with  you;  take  away  those 
things.  You  must  not  cheat  and  lie.  Do  not  my 
Father’s  house  make  a  bazaar.  Our  God  very  angry 
that  day.” 

I  have  no  space  to  describe  the  many  interesting 
things  about  “the  noble  sanctuary,”  as  this  group  of 
memorable  buildings  is  called.  They  deserve  an  entire 
volume  to  themselves,  and  to  see  them  properly  and 
describe  them  accurately  one  must  spend  days  there 


456  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


instead  of  the  hours  that  were  allowed  to  me.  Beneath 
the  Mosque  el  Aksa  is  a  crypt,  a  forest  of  massive  pil¬ 
lars,  called  Solomon’s  stables,  which  archeologists 
admit  may  possibly  have  been  used  for  the  horses  of 
the  Jewish  king,  although  they  were  rebuilt  by  the 
Saracens  after  the  crusades. 


XXIII 

The  City  of  the  Nativity 


457 


I 


BABES  OF  BETHLEHEM. 


XXIII 


.THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY 

It  delights  the  soul  to  find  at  least  one  clean  and  well 
kept  town  in  Palestine,  and  the  more  so  because  it  is 
Bethlehem,  a  place  which  appeals  more  strongly  and 
deeply  to  the  religious  and  poetic  sentiment  than  any 
other  on  earth,  because  it  has  been  the  scene  of  the 
most  beautiful  idyls  in  human  history;  for  was  it  not 
here  that  Ruth  gleaned  the  fields  of  Boaz,  and  not 
only  won  a  good  husband  but  became  the  mother  of  a 
long  line  of  kings?  and  was  it  not  here  that  Jacob  laid 
the  body  of  his  beloved  Rachel?  Looking  from  the 
walls  of  the  convent  you  can  see  the  home  of  Jesse, 
the  slopes  upon  which  David  herded  his  sheep,  the 
farm  of  Boaz,  the  caves  in  which  David  hid  from  Saul, 
the  fields  in  which  the  shepherds  were  abiding,  keep¬ 
ing  watch  over  their  flocks  by  night  when  they  saw  the  „ 
star  of  Bethlehem,  and  the  paths  by  which  they 
approached  the  stable  in  which  the  young  child  lay. 
All  this  scarcely  seems  real,  but  there  it  is,  spread  out 
before  you  like  an  ordinary  landscape,  like  the  views 
in  any  ordinary  country,  and  there  are  no  frauds  in  the 
natural  features  of  Bethlehem.  The  landscape  is 
exactly  the  same  this  morning  as  it  was  on  that 
memorable  day  when  Samuel  came  up  from  Gilgal  to 
choose  a  king  from  among  the  chief  men  of  Judea. 
According  to  the  legends,  the  star  fell  into  a  well,  and 
you  can  see  it  there  now.  The  place  is  so  real,  so 
actual,  so  tangible  that  one  is  tempted  to  believe  the 

459 


460  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

story,  and  I  saw  it  myself,  twinkling  in  the  dark  water. 

It  is  a  delightful  four-mile  drive  from  Jerusalem  to 
Bethlehem  over  a  good  road,  between  picturesque  and 
sunny  landscapes,  and  every  foot  of  the  way  is  filled 
with  historical  associations.  We  pass  a  great  hospital 
which  Sir  Moses  Montefiore  built  for  the  benefit  of  the 
poor  of  his  race,  and  the  Temple  Colony,  where  Ger¬ 
man  Lutherans  from  Wurtemburg  and  Buffalo  have  set 
up  a  model  town  as  an  example  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  Holy  Land;  the  Hill  of  Evil  Council;  one  of  sev¬ 
eral  trees  on  which  Judas  is  said  to  have  hanged  him¬ 
self;  the  country  house  of  Caiaphas;  the  house  of 
Simeon,  who  wanted  to  depart  in  peace  because  his 
eyes  had  seen  “thy  salvation’';  the  well  at  which 
Joseph  stopped  to  water  his  donkey  when  he  was  on 
his  way  to  Bethlehem;  the  Convent  of  the  Cross, 
which  was  founded  by  St.  Helena.  “There  is  the  earth 
that  nourished  the  roots  that  bore  the  tree  that  yielded 
the  timber  that  made  the  cross  upon  which  the  Son  of 
God  was  crucified.”  Under  the  altar  of  the  chapel 
the  monks  will  show  you  a  hole  in  the  ground  where 
the  stump  of  the  tree  once  stood,  and  pilgrims  fall 
down  and  worship  it. 

Strange  bands,  these  pilgrims,  particularly  the  Rus¬ 
sians,  but  there  are  many  others,  and  they  come  from 
all  the  corners  of  the  earth  in  hunger  and  thirst, 
through  frost  and  heat,  begging  food  on  the  way  and 
sleeping  under  the  stars  at  night.  Their  faith  is 
mighty,  their  zeal  a  burning  flame  and  their  satisfac¬ 
tion  intense.  Only  a  soul  entirely  free  from  the  tram¬ 
mels  of  the  world  can  kneel  and  kiss  a  marble  slab 
which  covers  a  hole  from  which  a  tree  is  said  to  have 
been  taken  two  thousand  years  ago. 

A  little  farther  on  is  a  castle  of  the  Knights  of 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  461 


Malta,  which  has  been  standing  there  ever  since  the 
crusades.  It  overlooks  “the  field  of  peas,”  so  called 
from  a  legend  that  Christ  once  asked  a  man  in  that 
field  what  he  was  sowing.  The  man  replied  “Stones.” 
Whereupon  the  seed  peas  in  his  pouch  turned  to  stone 
as  punishment  for  his  impertinence  to  the  Savior,  and 
ever  since  that  field  has  produced  peas  of  stone,  which 
are  still  found  on  the  spot  and  sold  to  pilgrims. 

But  soon  we  come  to  a  little  mosque  built  of  coarse 
white  limestone,  with  a  low  dome  of  masonry,  that 
stands  by  the  roadside  in  most  unattractive  surround¬ 
ings.  It  is,  however,  one  of  the  most  sacred  places  on 
earth  in  the  minds  of  several  hundred  millions  of 
people. 

About  four  thousand  years  ago  a  young  sheikh 
named  Jacob  came  along  this  way.  He  had  served  a 
deceitful  father-in-law  seven  years  for  one  of  his 
daughters  and  had  been  betrayed  into  marriage  with 
another,  and  then  had  served  seven  years  longer  for 
the  right  one.  His  wives  and  little  ones,  his  man  serv¬ 
ants  and  maid  servants,  his  oxen  and  his  asses,  his 
herds  and  flocks,  followed  him  as  he  moved  slowly 
toward  Hebron,  where  his  father  Isaac  dwelt.  When 
they  reached  Bethlehem,  Rachel,  the  beloved  wife,  for 
whom  he  had  served  fourteen  years,  died  in  the  pangs 
of  motherhood  and  was  buried  upon  a  green  slope  by 
the  roadside.  There  is  something  remarkable,  some¬ 
thing  inexplicable  that  a  man  of  Jacob’s  wealth,  under 
the  circumstances,  should  have  buried  his  beloved  in 
such  an  exposed  and  public  place,  and  entirely  among 
strangers,  when  Machpeleh,  the  sepulcher  of  his  ances¬ 
tors,  was  at  Hebron,  only  a  few  miles  away. 

Long  after  this,  when  he  was  about  to  die  in  Egypt, 
Jacob  told  his  son  Joseph  the  touching  story  of  his 


462  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


mother’s  death  and  burial,  and  that  makes  it  the  more 
extraordinary  that  Joseph,  the  lord  of  Egypt,  a  prince 
of  vast  wealth  and  power,  did  not  transfer  the  remains 
of  his  mother  from  this  tomb  on  the  highway  to  the 
family  sepulcher  where  Sarah,  the  wife  of  Abraham; 
Rebecca,  the  wife  of  Isaac;  and  Leah,  the  unloved 
wife  of  Jacob,  lay.  And  we  have  no  explanation  of 
these  singular  circumstances.  The  tomb  of  Rachel, 
however,  in  this  public  place,  was  known  and  vener¬ 
ated  when  Moses  led  the  hosts  of  Israel  out  of  the 
wilderness;  nor  has  it  been  lost  or  overlooked  or  its 
identity  questioned  to  the  present  hour. 

The  dust  of  Rachel  has  long  since  disappeared,  when 
and  how  no  one  can  say,  but  her  tomb  is  more  holy  in 
the  eyes  of  Israel  than  any  other  place  in  Palestine, 
and  as  sacred  to  the  Mohammedans  as  to  the  Hebrews. 
The  present  mosque  was  restored  by  Sir  Moses  Monte- 
fiore,  although  it  belongs  to  the  Moslems. 

It  was  beside  the  tomb  of  Rachel  that  Samuel,  the 
prophet,  met  Saul,  the  son  of  Kish,  when  the  latter 
was  searching  the  gullies  around  Bethlehem  for 
his  father’s  live  stock  that  had  gone  astray,  and 
anointed  him  with  the  holy  oil  to  be  King  of  Israel. 

The  story  of  David,  the  shepherd  boy  of  Bethlehem, 
who,  after  a  succession  of  most  remarkable  adventures 
and  achievements,  became  King  of  Israel,  is  unsur¬ 
passed  in  all  literature  for  sentiment,  romance  and 
tragedy,  and  many  of  the  scenes  are  laid  around  this 
quiet  little  city.  You  remember  that  David  was  a 
skillful  harpist;  so  they  brought  him  one  night  to  the 
king’s  bedchamber  that  he  might  drive  away  the  evil 
spirits,  and  the  king’s  son  Jonathan  and  his  daughter 
Michal  loved  the  young  musician.  But  Saul,  insane 
with  jealousy,  remorse  and  unsatisfied  ambition, 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  463 


threw  his  spear  at  the  minstrel,  who  had  to  flee  from 
the  palace.  He  was  a  fugitive  in  the  hills  for  many 
days,  being  hunted  like  an  outlaw,  and  having  many 
narrow  escapes.  And  you  remember  how  the  rash  boy 
cut  off  Saul’s  coat-tails  in  the  cave,  and  again  in  the 
camp,  while  he  was  sleeping,  carried  away  his  canteen 
and  his  spear. 

Every  hill,  every  valley,  every  stone  around  Bethle¬ 
hem  is  associated  with  the  adventures  and  triumphs  of 
that  shepherd  lad,  and  it  became  known  at  early 
times,  and  has  ever  since  been  called  the  City  of 
David.  He  inherited  the  fields  of  Boaz,  and  the  house 
in  which  Ruth  lived  was  his  home  for  many  years, 
until,  in  his  old  age,  he  gave  it  as  an  affectionate  gift  to 
the  son  of  an  old  friend  whom  he  highly  esteemed. 

Five  hundred  years  later  Bethlehem  was  the  scene 
of  another  idyl,  the  most  beautiful  ever  enacted,  when 
the  stars  and  the  angels  sang  a  serenade  together  over 
a  stable. 

Then  followed  the  great  tragedy,  when  the  thresh- 
hold  of  every  cottage  in  Bethlehem  was  stained  with 
the  blood  of  a  baby,  murdered  by  Herod,  in  order  that 
the  child  that  had  been  born  in  a  manger  might  not 
live  to  become  a  king. 

The  Bethlehem  of  to-day  has  a  population  of  about 
8,000  people,  almost  entirely  dependent  upon  tourists 
and  pilgrims  and  the  manufacture  of  religious  emblems. 
At  least  4,000  men,  women  and  children  are  engaged 
in  manufacturing  rosaries,  crucifixes  and  other  articles 
of  olive  and  sandal  wood  and  mother-of-pearl.  The 
mother-of-pearl  work  is  famous.  The  material  is 
obtained  from  shells  brought  from  the  Red  Sea,  and 
some  of  the  carvings  are  exquisite.  You  can  see  hun¬ 
dreds  of  people  making  all  kinds  of  ornaments  and 


464  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


trinkets  in  windowless  rooms  as  you  pass  through  the 
narrow  streets. 

There  are  no  Jews  in  Bethlehem,  and  only  seven 
Mohammedans;  at  least  so  they  say.  The  rest  of  the 
population  are  Christians,  and  Bethlehem  has  the 
reputation  of  being  the  most  orderly,  industrious  and 
contented  community  in  Palestine.  The  city  is  the 
cleanest  we  have  seen,  although  there  might  be  some 
improvement  on  several  of  the  back  streets,  the  slums, 
I  suppose.  The  main  part  of  the  town  is  neatly  kept; 
the  pavements  are  swept  and  sprinkled  daily,  the 
houses  are  neatly  whitewashed,  the  courtyards  are  as 
clean  as  a  New  England  dairy  and  the  atmosphere  is 
free  from  those  hideous  stenches  that  assail  you  in 
other  towns. 

The  only  drawback  to  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  to  Beth¬ 
lehem  are  the  appalling  ugliness  of  the  church  that 
stands  over  the  scene  of  the  Nativity  and  the  persist¬ 
ence  of  the  peddlers  who  follow  pilgrims  and  tourists 
from  place  to  place  as  they  go  about  sightseeing. 
They  do  not  leave  you  alone  a  moment.  You  cannot 
look  at  anything  without  having  half  a  dozen  imperti¬ 
nent  venders  of  rosaries,  beads  and  other  articles  come 
before  you.  You  cannot  think  for  a  moment  without 
being  interrupted  by  their  rasping  voices  importuning 
you  to  buy.  It  is  strange  that  justifiable  homicides  do 
not  occur  there  every  day. 

Millions  of  rosaries  are  shipped  from  Bethlehem 
annually  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  as  Mohammedans 
and  Greeks,  as  well  as  Roman  Catholics,  use  them  to 
count  their  prayers.  They  are  even  more  necessary  to 
the  former  than  to  the  members  of  any  other  creed, 
because  they  are  required  to  repeat  the  same  prayer 
ninety-nine  times,  and  very  few  people  have  the  men- 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  465 

tal  vigor  to  keep  tally  on  such  a  task.  Millions  of 
crucifixes  of  ivory,  mother-of-pearl,  olive,  sandalwood 
and  cedar,  lava,  marble,  alabaster  and  other  materials 
are  made  and  sold,  and  car  loads  of  articles  of  olive- 
wood  of  all  descriptions  are  carried  away  each  week  on 
the  backs  of  camels  to  the  railway  freight  station  at 
Jerusalem  or  across  the  mountain  trails  to  Jaffa,  for  it 
is  still  possible  for  the  caravans  to  compete  with  the 
railroads  in  rates.  Much  of  this  material  goes  to 
America.  I  met  a  gentleman  in  Bethlehem  who  had  a 
booth  at  the  world’s  fair  at  Chicago  for  the  sale  of 
religious  merchandise.  He  told  me  that  he  had  built 
up  a  trade  of  large  proportions  and  was  shipping  each 
year  thousands  of  dollars’  worth  to  Chicago  and  New 
York,  where  he  had  his  own  agents  established,  as 
well  as  a  profitable  business  with  the  department  stores. 

While  we  were  scouting  around  town  with  our  kodaks 
we  caught  sight  of  a  Bethlehem  bride.  Many  of  the 
places  in  Palestine,  like  those  of  France  and  the  Tyrol, 
have  their  own  peculiar  costumes,  and  that  worn  by 
the  women  of  Bethlehem  is  the  most  fetching  we  have 
seen.  It  glitters  with  embroidery  and  is  musical  with 
jingling  coins.  This  bride  justified  the  reputation 
which  the  women  of  Bethlehem  have  for  beauty,  for 
she  was  a  lovely  creature  and  looked  all  the  prettier 
when  she  blushed.  The  groom  had  recently  returned 
from  Central  America.  He  had  lived  in  Tegucigalpa, 
Honduras,  for  several  years,  and,  having  prospered  in 
business,  had  come  home  to  marry  his  true  love.  He 
invited  us  into  his  house,  offered  us  cakes  and  wine,  in 
obedience  to  the  laws  of  Oriental  hospitality,  and  with 
a  proud  air  of  possession,  gave  us  permission  to  photo¬ 
graph,  as  often  as  we  liked,  the  beautiful  girl  he  had 
married. 


466  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


It  would  be  a  great  thing  if  the  churches  of  Chris¬ 
tendom  would  celebrate  the  twentieth  century  by 
holding  a  conference  for  the  purpose  of  providing 
ways  and  means  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  temple 
upon  the  site  of  the  Nativity.  The  present  structure 
is  inadequate  and  unworthy,  being  incomplete,  inse¬ 
cure,  neglected  and  partially  in  ruins,  while  the  inte¬ 
rior  is  disgracefully  tawdry  and  cheap.  It  is  one  of 
the  oldest  examples  of  Christian  architecture  in  the 
world,  but  has  been  partially  destroyed  on  several 
occasions,  and  the  restorations  that  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  were  intended  to  be  only  temporary. 
Almost  every  old  church  throughout  Palestine  is 
attributed  to  the  Empress  Helena,  most  of  them 
falsely;  some  have  been  erected  within  the  last  two  or 
three  centuries  and  more  date  from  the  time  of  the 
crusades.  The  energy,  the  enterprise  and  the  piety  of 
that  good  woman  were  so  notable  and  she  did  so  much 
to  honor  and  uplift  Christianity  that  she  is  credited 
with  many  works  that  she  never  thought  of;  but  there 
is  no  doubt  that*  the  basilica  at  Bethlehem,  at  least  a 
part  of  it,  was  erected  by  her  direction  and  under  her 
supervision.  This  fact  is  not  disputed,  and  I  believe 
it  is  the  only  church  in  Palestine  of  which  that  may  be 
said.  The  remaining  buildings  attributed  to  her  are 
more  or  less  in  doubt. 

The  Church  of  the  Nativity,  as  it  is  called,  is  an 
enormous,  irregular  and  ugly  pile  of  buildings  extend¬ 
ing  along  a  ridge  of  the  hill  on  which  Bethlehem  is 
built,  from  east  to  west,  and  includes  three  convents 
owned  by  the  Roman  Catholic,  Orthodox  Greek  and 
Armenian  churches,  all  of  them  connected  with  it. 
There  is  absolutely  nothing  to  excite  interest  in  the 
entire  structure  except  its  size  and  a  few  Corinthian 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  467 

pillars,  half  obliterated  mosaics,  and  roof  beams  of 
cedar  from  Lebanon.  In  this  church  Baldwin  I.  was 
crowned  King  of  Jerusalem,  and  there  hundreds  of 
kings,  princes  and  potentates  and  other  great  men 
from  the  East  and  the  West  have  knelt  in  prayer  to  the 
Christ  Child. 

The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  at  Jerusalem,  the 
Church  of  the  Annunciation  at  Nazareth,  the  Tomb  of 
the  Virgin,  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  all  the 
other  greater  sanctuaries  have  been  the  subject  of  dis¬ 
pute  for  centuries.  Nothing  definite  can  be  said  for 
or  against  their  authenticity,  and  therefore  they 
probably  always  will  be  involved  in  doubt  and  con¬ 
troversy,  which  is  used  as  a  reason,  or  rather  as  an 
excuse,  for  not  erecting  appropriate  monuments  over 
them,  but  no  such  objection  can  be  offered  to  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity.  The  traditions  which  sur¬ 
round  it  can  be  traced  back  to  the  very  night  of  the 
Savior’s  birth,  and  secular  history  confirms  them.  We 
know  that  Jesus  was  born  in  a  stable  because  there  was 
no  room  for  his  parents  at  the  inn;  we  know  that  that 
stable  was  connected  with  a  cave,  and  that  it  was  situ¬ 
ated  in  the  village;  we  know  that  the  location  of  the 
village  has  not  been  changed,  and,  there  being  but  one 
cave,  the  chain  of  evidence  is  clear. 

The  Christian  sects  should  also  agree  that  the 
temple  sheltering  the  birthplace  of  Christ  should  not 
be  turned  into  a  bazaar  as  it  is  to-day  by  the  Greek 
priests.  The  Roman  Catholic  priests  are  not  guilty  of 
this  sacrilege,  but  the  Greeks  not  only  peddle  all 
sorts  of  religious  souvenirs  before  the  very  altar,  and 
importune  pilgrims  to  buy  them,  but  practice  imposi-  • 
tions  and  frauds  upon  the  devout  and  trustful  peasants 
which  would  send  them  all  to  the  penitentiary  if  they 


468  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


could  be  tried  in  any  common  law  court.  Some  of 
these  impositions  are  extraordinary  and  even  absurd. 
For  example: 

According  to  tradition,  the  Holy  Mother  went  into  a 
cave  near  the  village  of  Bethlehem  at  some  time  or 
another  to  nurse  the  baby  Jesus.  A  few  drops  of  milk 
from  her  overflowing  breasts  fell  upon  the  floor  and 
were  absorbed  by  the  dry,  porous,  chalky  soil.  The 
priests  say  that  it  permeated  the  entire  hill  just  as  the 
attar  of  roses  will  permeate  semi-solid  substances  with 
the  force  of  its  virility.  For  centuries  there  has  been 
a  superstition  among  the  of  women  Bethlehem  that 
chalk  from  the  floor  of  this  cave  dissolved  in  milk  or 
water,  if  taken  by  a  mother,  will  not  only  promote  fer¬ 
tility,  but  abolish  the  profession  of  wet  nurses.  Women 
who  are  not  mothers  and  young  maidens  use  it  to  de¬ 
velop  their  busts,  and  for  that  it  is  claimed  to  be  very 
efficacious.  Hence  tablets  or  cakes  like  little  pats  of 
butter  made  of  this  chalk  are  much  sought  after  by 
women  pilgrims,  and  the  demand  is  supplied  by  the 
Greek  priests. 

They  find  no  embarrassment  or  difficulty  in  the  fact 
that  the  cave  belongs  to  the  Franciscan  brothers  and 
is  closely  guarded.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  high  wall 
and  is  entered  through  a  chapel  and  monastery.  No 
Greek,  Moslem  or  Jew  can  come  near  it,  yet  every  day 
during  the  pilgrim  season  the  Greek  monks  sell  from 
two  to  five  bushels  of  chalky  tablets  alleged  to  have 
been  made  from  the  clay  of  the  cave  that  was  saturated 
with  milk  from  the  breast  of  the  mother  of  Christ. 

Everybody  in  Bethlehem  knows  that  the  material 
comes  from  another  part  of  the  hill,  where  anyone  who 
takes  the  trouble  can  see  a  large  excavation.  Several 
car  loads  of  the  soil  are  carted  to  the  Greek  monastery 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  469 


every  season,  and  if  the  priests  are  questioned  by  per¬ 
sons  who  know  the  facts  they  cross  themselves  and 
explain  that  it  is  the  same  chalk  that  is  found  in  the 
cave,  from  the  same  hill,  and  is  equally  efficacious. 
But  they  make  the  pilgrims  believe  that  the  chalk 
comes  from  the  cave  itself.  The  Franciscan  fathers, 
who  have  charge  of  the  cave,  become  very  indignant 
when  they  talk  of  this  fraud,  and  it  may  be  said  to 
their  credit  that  they  do  not  attempt  to  impose  upon 
the  pilgrims  in  that  way.  They  permit  women  who  are 
about  to  become  mothers  or  desire  children  or  are 
unable  to  furnish  natural  nourishment  to  their  little 
ones  to  come  to  the  cave  to  pray. 

But  this  is  only  one  of  the  many  frauds  practised  by 
the  Greek  priests.  They  sell  cargoes  of  crosses, 
rosaries  and  other  articles  made  from  wood  from  the 
Mount  of  Olives  and  flowers  and  sprigs  of  olive  trees 
from  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  just  as  they  do  in  Jeru¬ 
salem,  and  when  inquisitive  people  question  them 
about  it  they  boldly  assert  that  the  articles  are  genuine. 

The  Church  of  the  Nativity  is  also  profaned  daily  by 
Mohammedan  soldiers  whose  presence,  we  are  told,  is 
absolutely  necessary  to  prevent  the  Orthodox  Greeks 
and  Roman  Catholic  priests  from  tearing  each  other  to 
pieces.  Their  animosity  is  just  as  fierce  as  in  the 
Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  at  Jerusalem,  and 
although  they  are  not  crowded  into  such  close  quarters 
and  are  not  so  numerous  here,  and  their  chapels  are 
separated  by  double  walls  and  corridors,  the  authorities 
claim  to  believe  that  military  interference  is  neces¬ 
sary.  Each  denomination  has  its  hours  of  service  and 
is  required  to  observe  them.  Nor  are  the  priests  of 
one  sect  allowed  to  enter  the  precincts  of  another.  It 
is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  Christian  church  that 


470  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  birthplace  of  its  founder  must  be  policed  in  this 
way,  but  I  believe  all  whom  it  may  concern  are  satis¬ 
fied  that  the  precaution  is  necessary  to  prevent 
violence,  or  at  least  scandal. 

The  actual  manger  in  which  the  infant  Jesus  was  laid 
is  now  preserved  at  the  magnificent  cathedral  of  St. 
Maria  Maggiore  at  Rome,  and  is  exposed  Christmas 
when  the  annual  adoration  is  offered.  Its  place  has 
been  filled  with  beautifully  carved  marble  slabs,  and  the 
exact  spot  where  the  infant  Savior  is  said  to  have  been 
laid  is  marked  by  a  silver  star  presented  by  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Vienna  in  1852  to  replace  one  which  the 
Greek  priests  are  said  to  have  stolen.  That  theft 
caused  the  controversy  that  developed  into  the 
Crimean  War.  The  manger  is  in  a  subterranean  vault 
or  cave  of  irregular  shape,  dimly  lighted  with  silver 
lamps,  and  is  reached  by  two  passages  chiseled  out  of 
the  limestone  rock.  There  are  two  altars  in  this  rough 
chamber,  one  belonging  to  the  Greeks  and  the  other 
to  the  Roman  Catholics,  at  which  pilgrims  are  allowed 
to  worhip. 

Connected  with  this  little  chapel  by  a  crooked  and 
narrow  subterranean  passage  is  a  cell  in  which  the 
ablest  and  most  illustrious  of  all  the  early  pilgrims  to 
Jerusalem  lived  and  died,  and  here  his  holy  bones  are 
laid.  For  thirty  years,  in  this  little  underground  cell, 
by  the  light  of  a  candle,  St.  Jerome  studied  and 
worked.  Here  he  made  his  translation  of  the  Scrip- 
ures;  here  he  wrote  his  commentaries  and  treatises, 
and  the  epistles  which  exasperated  as  well  as  enlight¬ 
ened  the  Christian  world.  Here  he  fasted  and  prayed 
and  dreamed,  and  here  his  great  spirit  left  his  fragile 
frame  and  took  its  flight. 

It  appears  from  the  early  records  that  at  one  time  a 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  471 


stately  portico  ornamented  the  front  of  the  Church  of 
the  Nativity,  but  it  was  torn  away  by  the  Persians  or 
some  other  barbarian  invaders,  and  has  never  been 
replaced.  That  is  why  the  front  of  the  church  looks 
like  the  blank  partition  wall  of  an  ordinary  brick  build¬ 
ing.  It  is  unplastered  and  unpainted  and  altogether 
disgraceful  in  appearance.  It  is  said  that  in  1482  King 
Edward  IV.  of  England  and  Philip  of  Burgundy  fur¬ 
nished  funds  to  erect  the  buttresses  which  now  prevent 
it  from  falling,  and  it  is  remarkable  that  it  has  stood 
for  more  than  five  hundred  years. 

Very  much  the  same  state  of  affairs  seems  to  have 
existed  then  as  now,  and  the  present  condition  of  the 
church  is  accounted  for  by  the  inability  of  the  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  the  different  denominations  to  agree  upon 
the  manner  in  which  the  repairs  should  be  made.  A 
traveling  priest,  Father  Felix  Fabri,  who  came  here  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  tells  us  that  “the  Greeks  held 
the  choir,  the  Latins  the  cave  of  the  Lord’s  nativity 
and  the  Armenians  the  place  of  the  Three  Kings’ 
Offerings.  This  church  at  Bethlehem,’’  he  said,  “is 
profaned  and  desecrated;  it  stands  like  a  barn  without 
hay,  an  apothecary  shop  without  pots  or  a  library 
without  books.  The  precious  pictures  are  dropping 
from  the  walls  because  one  priest  will  not  let  another 
priest  restore  them,  and  we  can  be  thankful  that  the 
body  of  the  church  is  left  standing.’’ 

As  an  illustration  of  the  bitter  jealousy  prevailing 
among  the  priests  a  story  is  told  of  a  Catholic  who  had 
driven  a  nail  into  the  wall  upon  which  to  hang  a  pic¬ 
ture  or  a  lamp  or  something  that  had  been  presented. 
The  Greek  priests  objected,  and  appealed  to  the  Turk¬ 
ish  authorities.  The  latter  intervened  and  placed  a 
sentinel  at  the  spot  to  see  that  the  Catholic  priest  did 


472  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


not  attempt  to  carry  out  his  designs,  and  that  the 
Greek  priests  did  not  use  violence  to  prevent  him. 
Nor  was  the  Catholic  priest  allowed  to  pull  the  use¬ 
less  nail  from  the  wall.  When  the  Turkish  authorities 
were  questioned  about  this  incident  they  remarked 
contemptuously  that  “the  Christian  dogs  are  always 
snarling  at  each  other.” 

During  the  few  days  before  Christmas  each  year  the 
several  orders  of  monks  which  have  chapels  in  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity  clean  up  and  decorate  the  sur¬ 
roundings  over  which  they  are  allowed  jurisdiction. 
Each  sect  sweeps,  cleans,  scrubs  and  decorates  its 
allotted  portion  of  the  great  church,  but  so  jealous  are 
they  of  their  rights  that  one  side  of  a  row  of  pillars 
that  divide  Greek  territory  from  the  Roman  Catholic 
chapel  is  cleaned  by  the  monks  of  one  denomination 
and  the  other  side  by  monks  of  the  other. 

Christmas,  1902,  was  a  season  of  great  anxiety 
because  of  the  bitterness  growing  out  of  incidents  in 
Jerusalem,  and  several  days  before  that  anniversary 
the  governor  and  the  police  authorities  of  Palestine 
took  up  their  headquarters  at  Bethlehem,  and  the 
wires  between  that  place  and  Constantinople  were  hot 
with  telegrams  reporting  the  situation  and  giving 
instructions  for  its  treatment.  Fortunately,  through 
the  diplomatic  management  of  the  Mohammedan 
officials,  a  collision  was  prevented,  but  the  tense  feel¬ 
ing  is  illustrated  by  the  experiences  of  an  American 
gentleman  who  desired  to  make  a  photograph  of  some 
ancient  mosaics  high  on  the  walls  of  the  church.  He 
asked  permission  to  erect  a  scaffolding  upon  which  he 
could  place  his  camera  and  to  scrub  the  mosaics  in 
order  that  the  designs  might  appear  more  clearly. 
The  mosaics  were  on  Roman  Catholic  territory,  but  in 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY 


473 


order  to  get  the  proper  focus  the  scaffolding  would  have 
to  be  placed  upon  Greek  territory,  hence  permission 
was  refused,  and  when  the  American  appealed  to  the 
governor  he  was  informed  that  nothing  could  be  done 
without  special  permission  from  Constantinople.  In 
describing  the  situation  the  governor  pointed  out  a 
window  which  had  been  broken,  but  the  jealousy 
between  the  Christian  sects  was  so  great  that  neither 
would  allow  a  member  of  the  other  to  mend  it,  so  he 
employed  a  Jew  glazier  to  put  in  a  new  pane  of  glass. 

But  even  more  extraordinary  things  have  occurred  in 
that  sacred  church.  Tourists  inquire  the  history  and 
significance  of  a  rough  iron  chain  which  hangs  over 
the  entrance  to  the  grotto  in  which  the  Prince  of 
Peace  was  born,  and  hear  a  remarkable  story.  It  is 
explained  that  many  years  ago,  through  the  influence 
of  an  Armenian  who  at  that  time  was  grand  vizier  of 
Turkey,  the  Armenian  monks  obtained  permission 
from  the  sultan  to  hang  a  chain  to  which  lamps  could 
be  attached,  similar  to  chains  already  hung  for  the 
same  purpose  by  the  Greeks  and  Roman  Catholics. 
When  the  governor  received  the  order  he  notified  the 
Greek  bishop,  who,  after  reading  the  firmin,  expressed 
his  desire  to  cooperate  in  anything  that  the  sultan 
had  ordered.  Permission  was  then  granted  to  the 
Armenians,  who  appeared  with  their  chain  on  the  fol¬ 
lowing  day,  and  when  the  governor  entered  the  church 
he  was  surprised  and  delighted  to  find  several  Greek 
monks  assisting  in  the  work. 

The  chain  was  put  up  without  the  slightest  diffi¬ 
culty,  but  when  an  Armenian  started  with  a  lamp  to 
hang  upon  the  chain  a  Greek  monk  followed  and 
knocked  him  off  the  ladder.  He  fell  to  the  floor 
senseless  and  bleeding.  The  Mohammedan  guard 


474  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


immediately  arrested  the  Greek  monk.  The  bishop 
was  sent  for  and,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  governor, 
justified  the  assault  and  admitted  that  it  had  been 
committed  by  his  orders.  He  explained  that  the 
Armenian  had  permission  simply  to  hang  a  chain  for 
lamps,  but  the  firmin  did  not  include  permission  to 
hang  lamps  upon  it.  Upon  examining  the  document 
this  was  found  to  be  the  fact.  It  read  “a  chain  for 
lamps”  and  the  Greek  bishop  contended  that  the 
Armenians  had  no  right  to  do  anything  further.  The 
governor  insisted  upon  a  more  liberal  construction  of 
the  order,  but  the  Greeks  would  not  concede  a  point, 
and  the  question  was  referred  to  Constantinople  for 
decision. 

The  authorities  at  the  Sublime  Porte  are  in  the  habit 
of  avoiding  the  decision  of  perplexing  questions,  hence 
when  the  report  from  the  governor  reached  Constanti¬ 
nople  it  was  poked  into  a  pigeon  hole,  where  it  has 
been  lying  ever  since,  and  the  Armenians  have  never 
been  able  to  obtain  permission  to  hang  lamps  upon 
their  chain. 

It  seems  that  Jesus  never  visited  His  own  birthplace, 
although  He  must  have  often  passed  in  sight  of  it  upon 
His  journeys  to  and  from  Jerusalem;  nor  is  there  any 
evidence  that  the  Holy  Mother  ever  came  here. 
Neither  had  she  any  other  associations  or  connections 
with  the  place,  except  her  accidental  presence  on  the 
night  of  the  Savior’s  birth. 

At  the  south  gate  of  the  city,  still  in  use,  is  the  well 
that  King  David  loved.  When  the  Philistines  held  the 
city,  as  the  quaint  story  goes,  he  cried  peevishly:  ‘‘Oh, 
that  one  would  give  me  a  drink  of  the  water  of  Bethle¬ 
hem  which  is  by  the  gate.”  Then  ‘‘three  mighty  men 
broke  through  the  hosts  of  the  enemy  and  drew  water 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  NATIVITY  475 


from  the  well  and  brought  it  to  the  king,”  but  David, 
ashamed  of  his  childish  fancy,  “poured  it  out  unto  the 
Lord,”  saying:  “Shall  I  drink  the  blood  of  the  men 
that  went  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives?” 


BETHANY. 


XXIV 

Bethany,  Hebron,  Shiloh  and  Jericho 


477 


•- 


XXIV 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH  AND  JERICHO 

Bethany  is  only  two  miles  from  St.  Stephen’s  Gate 
and  an  easy  walk.  Every  foot  of  the  distance  is 
identified  with  events  in  the  life  of  the  Savior,  and  we 
know  that  He  made  the  brief  journey  leisurely,  wan¬ 
dering  through  the  olive  groves,  teaching,  preaching 
and  speaking  parables. 

Bethany  is  a  wretched  place.  The  name  means 
“house  of  the  poor,'’  and  is  well  applied.  Sixty 
generations  have  appeared  and  vanished  since  the 
little  cluster  of  unplastered  stone  habitations  was  so 
christened,  but  I  presume  the  dwellings  and  the  people 
were  similar  in  the  time  of  Christ  to  those  that  are 
called  Bethany  now.  You  can  see  through  the  cracks 
between  the  stones  of  the  walls  of  the  houses,  and  the 
inhabitants  are  Arab  peasants,  who,  the  son  of  their 
sheikh  declared,  are  too  lazy  either  to  work  or  to 
steal.  They  call  the  town  El  Aziriyeh  now,  which  is 
the  Arabic  for  Lazarus,  whom  Jesus  raised  from  the 
dead.  According  to  traditions,  he  was  the  local 
sheikh,  and  owned  the  village  and  the  land  around  it. 
This  is  confirmed  by  the  Scripture  story.  Jesus  made 
His  home  at  the  house  of  Lazarus,  probably  because  it 
was  the  best  in  the  village.  Lazarus  had  a  family 
sepulcher  hewn  out  of  the  rock,  which  is  evidence  of 
his  wealth,  and  the  large  number  of  people  who 
attended  his  funeral  is  evidence  of  his  influence 
and  popularity.  The  only  cave  in  the  village  is 
pointed  out  as  his  tomb,  and  is  probably  the  place.  It 

479 


480  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


appears  to  be  partly  natural  and  partly  artificial,  the 
marks  of  the  chisel  being  shown  in  the  limestone  walls. 
It  is  reached  by  a  flight  of  about  twenty  worn  and 
broken  steps,  which  have  been  carved  in  the  rock,  and 
lead  first  to  an  antechamber,  where  Jesus  no  doubt 
stood  when  He  said,  “Lazarus,  come  forth,”  and  the 
body  of  the  dead  friend  in  the  tomb  adjoining  at  once 
showed  signs  of  life. 

A  few  feet  from  the  tomb  tradition  points  out  the 
site  of  the  house  in  which  Lazarus  lived,  with  Mary 
and  Martha,  his  sisters.  The  location  has  been 
changed  several  times,  and  even  now  two  sites  are 
disputing  the  honor,  one  being  supported  by  the  Greeks 
and  the  other  by  the  Roman  Catholics.  A  little 
farther  on  is  a  ruined  tower,  which  the  guides  call  the 
Castle  of  Lazarus,  but  it  was  probably  built  during  the 
period  of  the  crusaders.  A  small  mosque  with  a  white 
dome  has  been  erected  over  the  sepulcher,  for  the 
Moslems  as  well  as  the  Christians  regard  Lazarus  as  a 
saint  and  use  the  tomb  as  a  place  of  prayer.  This  is 
common  throughout  all  Palestine,  and  one  is  a  little 
puzzled  to  understand  why  the  disciples  of  Christ 
should  be  regarded  with  such  reverence  by  the  fol¬ 
lowers  of  Mohammed. 

Before  the  Moslem  conquest  of  Jerusalem  in  the 
seventh  century  churches  and  monasteries  were  erected 
by  the  Christians  in  Bethany  upon  the  sites  where 
Mary  and  Martha  are  supposed  to  have  dwelt  and 
where  Lazarus  was  buried.  These  were  afterward 
converted  into  mosques,  and  used  by  the  Mohamme¬ 
dans  until  the  crusaders  obtained  possession,  when 
they  were  restored  again  to  Christian  worship. 
Melisinda,  Queen  of  King  Fulco,  built  a  nunnery  at 
Bethany  in  honor  of  Mary  and  Martha,  and  her  sister 


A  HIT  OF  BETHANY 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  481 

Iveta,  a  rich  and  proud  woman,  was  made  abbess.  It 
is  possible  that  the  ruined  tower  may  have  been  a  part 
of  that  nunnery,  but  it  is  morely  likely  that  the  cru¬ 
saders  built  a  castle  there.  The  building  was  destroyed 
by  the  Saracens,  and  from  that  day  Bethany  has  been  a 
hopeless  collection  of  huts.  Although  there  may  be 
doubt  about  the  exact  location  of  the  house  and  the 
tomb,  both  were  certainly  somewhere  in  the  village, 
for  the  Christian  world  has  never  lost  sight  of  this 
humble  retreat  of  Jesus.  The  earliest  Christian  con¬ 
verts  lived  in  Bethlehem,  and,  although  the  population 
has  been  exterminated  again  and  again,  it  has  never 
been  without  His  followers. 

From  Jerusalem  to  Hebron  is  a  journey  of  four  hours 
by  carriage  over  a  good  road.  Starting  early  in  the 
morning  and  taking  luncheon  along,  the  trip  may  be 
made  in  a  single  day,  and  that  is  the  best  plan,  as 
there  is  no  hotel  at  Hebron.  The  only  place  where  a 
man  can  sleep  decently  is  at  the  Russian  hospice,  and 
that  is  objectionable  for  several  reasons.  So  many 
pilgrims  go  there.  The  journey  is  not  particularly 
interesting;  the  hills  on  either  side  of  the  trail  are 
rugged  and  barren  and  the  cultivated  area  is  limited, 
but  no  city  in  Palestine  except  Bethlehem  is  more 
attractive  for  historical  reasons.  The  manners  and 
customs  of  the  people,  their  costumes  and  dialect,  have 
changed  very  little  since  Father  Abraham  came  to 
dwell  among  the  sons  of  Heth.  This  gives  the  town  a 
quaintness  and  makes  it  a  fascinating  field  of  study. 

There  are  several  interesting  places  in  Hebron,  one 
of  them  being  the  grave  of  the  prophet  Jonah,  and 
another,  a  rock  tomb,  which  is  said  to  have  belonged  to 
the  prophet  Gad.  The  spring  at  which  Philip  baptized 
the  eunuch  is  pointed  out,  and  several  other  scenes  of 


482  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


Scripture  stories,  but  Hebron  is  so  closely  identified 
with  Abraham  and  the  early  days  of  Israel  that  these 
points  are  generally  overlooked. 

The  most  conspicuous  object  and  the  shrine  of  the 
pilgrims  is  what  the  Arabs  call  the  Haram  Ramet  el- 
Khalil — the  Tomb  of  Abraham.  It  is  a  large  structure, 
with  high  walls  very  well  preserved,  220  feet  by  159 
feet  in  size.  The  stones  are  of  great  size,  averaging 
10  by  15  by  8  feet  in  dimensions,  being  laid  without 
mortar  and  with  the  greatest  exactness,  the  joints 
being  so  true  and  perfect  that  it  is  even  now  impossible 
to  run  a  knife  blade  between  them. 

Here  Abraham  is  supposed  to  have  been  buried,  and 
excepting  the  tomb  of  Mohammed,  and  the  black  stone 
at  Mecca,  it  is  the  most  sacred  place  in  all  the  Islam 
world,  even  more  so  than  the  Mosque  of  St.  Omar. 
Here  Abraham  came  to  bury  Sarah  and  to  weep  for 
her,  and  here  Isaac  and  Rebecca  also  found  eternal 
rest.  But  the  grave  of  Esau  is  unknown.  Here  Jacob 
buried  Leah,  leaving  the  body  of  his  beloved  Rachel 
by  the  roadside  near  Bethlehem,  and  here  his  sons 
brought  his  weary  bones  out  of  Egypt  and  buried  him 
by  the  wife  who  had  deceived  him. 

That  must  have  been  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
funerals  in  all  history,  for  we  read  that  “all  the  serv¬ 
ants  of  Pharaoh,  the  elders  of  his  house  and  all  the 
elders  of  Egypt  accompanied  Joseph  and  his  brethren, 
and  they  took  with  them  their  families  and  flocks  and 
herds.”  It  was  a  migration  second  only  to  the  exodus 
of  the  Israelites,  for  “there  went  up  with  him  both 
chariots  and  horsemen,  and  it  was  a  very  great  com¬ 
pany,  and  they  came  to  the  threshing  floor  of  Atad, 
which  is  beyond  Jordan,  and  there  they  mourned  with 
a  great  and  very  sore  lamentation.” 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  483 


The  place  is  partly  in  ruins  now,  but  is  being  pre¬ 
served  by  the  Mohammedan  moulahs,  who  are  exceed¬ 
ingly  jealous  of  Christian  intrusion.  The  sepulchers 
are  not  shown  to  ordinary  visitors,  but  baksheesh  or  a 
letter  from  the  governor  at  Jerusalem  will  open  the 
iron  doors  and  give  access  to  a  cave  which  is  evidently 
natural,  and  then  to  a  second,  which  is  partly  natural, 
and  then  to  a  third,  which  has  been  enlarged  by  arti¬ 
ficial  means  and  contains  an  inscription  reading, 
“This  is  the  Tomb  of  our  Father,  Abraham,  upon 
Whom  be  Peace.” 

The  cenotaph,  supposed  to  contain  the  dust  of  the 
patriarch,  is  similar  to  those  built  for  the  sultans  and 
pashas  in  Turkey,  and  is  covered  with  embroidered 
velvet,  extracts  from  the  Koran  being  traced  with  sil¬ 
ver  thread  with  exquisite  skill.  There  are  five  other 
tombs,  that  of  Sarah  being  in  a  recess  at  the  right  of 
Abraham’s  and  guarded  by  a  pair  of  gates.  Those  of 
Jacob  and  Leah  are  in  a  similar  recess  on  the  opposite 
side,  and  over  them  two  great  green  banners  are 
crossed,  the  significance  of  which  was  not  explained. 
Several  fine  cashmere  and  camel’s-hair  shawls  are 
folded  across  the  cenotaphs  that  cover  the  remains  of 
the  other  founders  of  the  race  of  Israel,  and  they 
were  presented  by  former  sultans  and  other  great  men. 
No  one  is  ever  allowed  to  enter  the  recess  where  Isaac 
is  buried,  and  that  also  is  a  mystery.  It  is  said  that 
when  Ibrahim  Pasha,  the  conqueror  of  Palestine  and 
the  dictator  of  Egypt,  endeavored  to  approach  the 
cenotaph  of  Isaac  seventy-five  or  eighty  years  ago  he 
was  smitten  with  paralysis. 

This  is  probably  the  oldest  burial  place  in  the  world, 
and  it  is  absolutely  authentic  because  we  know  that 
Abraham  purchased  the  cave  of  Macpelah  as  a  family 


484  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


tomb.  We  even  know  how  much  he  paid  for  it.  The 
walls  around  it  are  also  among  the  oldest  examples  of 
masonry,  dating  from  the  time  of  the  pyramids,  and 
are  of  Jewish  workmanship,  which  gives  them  increased 
importance. 

The  modern  town  of  Hebron  is  not  at  all  interest¬ 
ing.  There  are  perhaps  20,000  people,  nearly  all  Mos¬ 
lems  excepting  1,500  Jews.  There  is  an  English 
physician  and  hospital  and  a  German  Lutheran  mis¬ 
sion,  with  a  church  and  school  for  Mohammedans,  but 
the  work  is  carried  on  with  a  good  deal  of  difficulty 
because  of  popular  prejudice.  The  people  are  engaged 
in  several  extensive  branches  of  industry  and  carry  on 
a  brisk  trade  with  the  Bedouins  of  the  desert  south 
and  east.  There  are  large  glass  manufactories  of  bot¬ 
tles  and  beads.  The  latter  are  sold  to  pilgrims  at 
Jerusalem  and  to  the  natives  to  protect  them  from  the 
evil  eye.  A  lamp  factory  gives  employment  to  150  or 
200  people.  Nearly  all  the  water  bottles  used  in 
southern  Palestine  are  made  there  of  goat  and  pig 
skins,  and  many  of  the  trinkets  and  religious  souvenirs 
that  pilgrims  carry  away  are  manufactured  in  Hebron, 
although  Bethlehem  does  a  larger  business  in  that 
line.  The  town  is  not  attractive.  It  is  a  mass  of 
masonry,  divided  by  narrow  streets,  with  very  little 
verdure,  and  water  is  scarce,  but  on  the  hillsides 
around  are  some  of  the  most  famous  and  most  pro¬ 
ductive  vineyards  in  Palestine. 

Plebron  is  not  only  very  old,  but,  unlike  most  of  the 
towns,  has  never  been  destroyed  or  badly  damaged. 
It  has  escaped  the  ravages  of  war,  and  perhaps  some 
of  its  houses  are  more  ancient  than  any  others  in  the 
Holy  Land,  although  there  is  no  definite  record  or  evi¬ 
dence  of  their  age.  We  know  that  the  present  town 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  485 


stands  upon  the  same  site  occupied  by  the  Hebron  of 
Abraham  because  of  a  famous  pool.  A  wall  may 
crumble;  a  temple  maybe  thrown  down;  a  palace  may 
be  destroyed  by  fire  and  a  castle  razed  by  artillery,  but 
a  well  cut  in  the  living  rock  will  endure  forever,  and 
the  pool  of  Hebron  is  an  unimpeachable  witness.  The 
townspeople  depend  upon  it  to-day  as  they  always 
have  done,  and  the  same  stone  steps  lead  down  to  the 
water.  Men,  women  and  children  are  constantly  com¬ 
ing  and  going  with  their  burdens  upon  their  heads  as 
in  the  days  of  Abraham,  but,  as  at  Nazareth,  the  pic¬ 
turesqueness  of  the  scene  is  much  impaired  because 
petroleum  cans  are  very  generally  used  as  a  substitute 
for  the  ancient  artistic  urns  and  jars. 

Outside  the  city,  an  ancient  oak,  twenty-six  feet  in 
girth,  and  spreading  its  branches  over  an  area  ninety- 
three  feet  in  diameter,  the  Mohammedan  traditions 
say,  is  the  same  tree  under  which  Father  Abraham 
received  the  angel  ambassadors  from  Jehovah,  as  he 
“sat  at  the  door  of  his  tent,  in  the  cool  of  the  day.” 
Botanists  question  the  accuracy  of  the  tradition,  for, 
while  they  admit  that  the  tree  may  be  a  thousand 
years  old,  they  are  quite  certain  it  is  no  older.  Enough 
beads,  crosses,  rulers,  paper  cutters,  book  covers, 
albums,  portfolios,  writing  desks,  picture  frames  and 
other  souvenirs  have  been  manufactured  out  of  the 
wood  of  this  tree  to  load  the  entire  fleet  of  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Steamship  Company,  and  several  car  loads  are 
sold  annually,  although  not  a  branch  or  a  twig  has 
been  cut  for  a  generation.  Occasionally  by  a  liberal 
use  of  baksheesh  a  tourist  or  a  pilgrim  may  obtain  a 
few  leaves,  but  they,  it  is  more  likely  than  otherwise, 
were  picked  from  a  tree  in  an  adjoining  grove. 

Beside  the  roadway,  about  a  mile  from  town,  are  the 


486  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


massive  foundations  of  a  large  building,  which  inclose 
an  area  200  by  160  feet.  Only  two  courses  of  stone 
were  ever  laid.  The  work  of  construction  seems  to 
have  stopped  with  them,  and  they  are  enormous 
blocks,  measuring  fifteen  and  eighteen  feet  in  length 
by  three  and  four  feet  square.  They  were  laid  in  the 
same  manner  as  those  in  the  tomb  of  Abraham,  with¬ 
out  mortar,  but  with  remarkable  exactness,  for  the 
joints  are  absolutely  perfect.  Who  did  this  work  and 
the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended  nobody  knows. 
There  are  no  traditions  attached  to  it,  but  the  people 
call  it  “Abraham’s  house.”  They  ought  to  realize, 
however,  that  Abraham  never  had  a  house.  He  was  a 
nomad  and  lived  in  a  tent. 

Beersheba,  or  Bires  Seba,  is  about  thirty  miles  south 
of  Hebron,  but  we  did  not  go  there,  because  there  is 
nothing  to  be  seen  or  learned  and  it  is  a  hard  ride 
across  the  desert.  It  is  the  southern  extremity  of 
Palestine,  the  jumping-off  place — from  Dan  to  Beer¬ 
sheba,  they  used  to  say  in  describing  the  limits  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  Jews — but,  as  in  olden  times,  it  is  an 
important  station  upon  the  caravan  trail  between 
Damascus  and  Cairo,  and  the  neighborhood  is 
sprinkled  with  ruins  that  are  eloquent  testimony  of 
stirring  events  that  have  occurred  in  that  neighbor¬ 
hood.  There  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  often  dwelt; 
there  Jacob  played  the  trick  for  which  his  posterity 
have  been  punished,  and  acquired  the  birthright  and 
blessing  that  belonged  to  his  brother;  there  he  sacri¬ 
ficed  to  the  Lord  before  entering  upon  the  desert  on 
his  way  to  visit  his  lost  son  Joseph  in  Egypt;  there 
Samuel  made  his  sons  judges.  Abraham  once  planted 
a  grove  at  Beersheba,  and  the  posterity  of  his  trees 
still  extend  a  grateful  shade  over  the  camel  drivers 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  487 

* 

and  the  Bedouins,  whose  flocks  sweep  the  plains 
around  it. 

Shiloh  is  about  six  hours’  journey  northward  from 
Jerusalem,  but  the  roads  are  so  bad  that  you  have  to 
go  on  horseback.  It  is  a  desolate  place,  scattered  with 
ruins,  and  one  could  scarcely  conceive  of  a  more 
degraded  and  hopeless  lot  of  creatures  than  the  Arab 
shepherds  who  now  occupy  the  place  where  the  pious 
Hannah  and  the  great  and  good  Eli  used  to  live. 
But  it  is  no  modern  ruin.  Its  destruction  was  pro¬ 
claimed  by  Jeremiah:  “Go  ye  now  into  my  place, 
which  was  in  Shiloh,  where  I  set  my  name  at  the  first, 
and  see  what  I  did  to  it,  for  the  wickedness  of  my 
people  Israel.”  The  modern  name  is  Seilun. 

One  might  spend  hours  moralizing  and  sentimental¬ 
izing  over  these  desolate  piles  of  stone,  for  at  one  time 
Shiloh  was  the  center  of  the  worship  of  Jehovah.  The 
tabernacle  of  God  stood  there  from  the  time  of  Joshua 
to  the  days  of  Samuel,  and  all  the  tribes  of  Israel  came 
there  to  worship.  Hither  the  child  Samuel  was  brought 
by  his  mother,  according  to  her  vow,  when  he  was  only 
three  years  old,  to  be  lent  to  the  Lord,  and  to  be 
trained  for  the  service  of  the  sanctuary.  Here  poor, 
blind  old  Eli  fell  backward  and  broke  his  neck  when 
they  told  him  that  the  ark  had  been  captured  by  the 
Philistines. 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  gospel  according  to  St. 
Luke  we  learn  that  a  blameless  man  and  woman  named 
Zacharias  and  Elizabeth  were  living  in  a  city  of  Judea, 
“in  the  hill  country,”  when  Mary,  the  mother  of 
Jesus,  visited  them.  Elizabeth  was  her  cousin.  And 
shortly  after  a  child  was  born  of  Elizabeth,  and, 
according  to  the  injunction  of  an  angel,  they  called  his 
name  John,  “and  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  him,” 


488  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


and  his  reputation  was  noised  abroad  throughout  all 
the  hill  country  of  Judea.  “And  the  child  grew  and 
waxed  strong  in  spirit,  and  was  in  the  desert  till  the 
day  of  his  shewing  unto  Israel.  And  the  word  of 
God  came  unto  John,  the  son  of  Zacharias,  in  the 
wilderness,  and  he  came  into  all  the  country  about 
Jordan,  preaching  the  baptism  of  repentance  for  the 
remission  of  sins.” 

From  the  time  of  the  crusades  a  thriving  village 
called  Ainkarim,  about  four  miles  south  of  Jerusalem 
and  an  equal  distance  west  of  Bethlehem,  has  been 
identified  as  the  place  “in  the  hill  country”  where 
these  extraordinary  events  occurred,  and  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Marquis  de  Nointel, 
ambassador  to  Turkey,  persuaded  the  sultan  to  give 
the  ruins  of  a  church,  then  occupied  as  a  stable,  to  the 
Franciscan  fathers,  who,  in  their  energetic  way, 
restored  it  as  nearly  as  possible  on  the  lines  of  the 
original  erected  by  the  crusaders;  and  they  built  a  large 
monastery  adjoining.  This  church,  they  believe,  occu¬ 
pies  the  exact  site  of  the  house  of  Zacharias,  in  which 
Mary  and  Elizabeth  exchanged  maternal  confidences, 
and  John  the  Baptist  was  born. 

In  an  old  fortification  at  Medeba,  in  the  mountains 
of  Moab,  about  3,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  thirty-five  miles 
southeast  of  Jericho,  has  been  discovered  a  mosaic 
pavement,  which  is  nothing  less  than  a  map  of  ancient 
Palestine.  This  map  is  made  of  small  colored  stones 
beautifully  put  together,  and  was  undoubtedly  the 
floor  of  some  important  room  in  a  church  or  a  monas¬ 
tery,  and  probably  dates  from  the  fifth,  or  perhaps  the 
fourth,  century,  when  the  Byzantine  art  of  decorating 
floors  with  mosaic  flourished,  and  Medeba  was  in  its 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  489 

glory.  At  present  Medeba  has  a  population  of  only 
900  souls,  mostly  Christians,  who  are  working  indus¬ 
triously  to  restore  the  fertility  of  the  wilderness  of 
Moab. 

♦ 

The  largest  town  upon  the  map  is  Jerusalem,  and 
the  churches  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  and  St.  Anne  are 
plainly  marked;  also  the  columns  on  both  sides  of  the 
street  leading  from  the  Damascus  gate  to  the  other 
side  of  the  city — which  to  this  day  is  called  in  Arabic 
Bab-11  Amood — the  gate  of  the  columns.  The  Jordan 
can  be  plainly  distinguished  upon  the  map.  The 
fishes  in  it  are  almost  as  broad  as  the  river  itself. 
Toward  its  source  a  bridge  appears  to  cross  it,  and  on 
the  farther  side  are  a  gazelle  and  a  tiger,  to  indicate 
that  the  country  was  wild.  There  are  two  sailing 
boats  in  the  Dead  Sea  almost  as  large  as  the  sea  itself, 
with  two  men  in  each  pulling  oars  that  touch  the 
banks  on  both  sides.  Bethlehem,  Hebron,  Gaza, 
Askalon  and  other  places  can  also  be  identified,  and 
south  of  them  is  Egypt,  with  the  Nile  flowing  through 
it,  and,  by  its  delta,  reaching  the  sea.  The  names  of 
all  these  places  are  marked  in  Greek.  To  the  south 
of  Jerusalem,  on  the  Roman  road  leading  to  Hebron, 
is  a  place  plainly  marked:  “Beth-Zakar,  Home  of  the 
Holy  Zacharias.’  ’ 

An  enterprising  archeologist,  at  about  the  proper 
distance  and  direction  from  Jerusalem,  discovered  an 
old  ruin  called  by  the  natives  “Beit  Shakkar. ”  The 
location  and  the  similarity  of  the  name  attracted  his 
attention,  and  particularly  because  a  village  called 
Safa,  which  lies  only  a  little  distance  directly  east,  is 
also  marked  upon  the  mosaic  map.  This  topograph¬ 
ical  evidence  seemed  to  be  convincing,  and  his  exca¬ 
vations  disclosed  the  ruins  of  an  old  church,  with 


490  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


arches  and  a  vaulted  roof  resembling  the  representa¬ 
tion  upon  the  mosaic  map.  The  church  is  twelve 
meters  long  and  was  once  surrounded  by  immense 
buildings.  The  floor  was  laid  in  colored  mosaics  simi¬ 
lar  to  those  at  Medeba,  which  is  accepted  as  proof  that 
both  existed  about  the  same  time.  A  considerable 
part  of  the  mosaic  is  still  in  a  good  state  of  preserva¬ 
tion,  and  the  design  and  colors  are  exquisite.  A  half- 
obliterated  inscription  in  Greek  characters  appears  in 
which  the  names  of  both  John  and  Zacharias  may  be 
traced. 

We  left  Jerusalem  early  in  the  morning,  drove 
through  the  new  part  of  the  town  and  around  the  north 
side  of  the  walls  by  a  good  road,  past  the  Damascus 
gate,  the  site  which  General  Gordon,  like  many  others, 
believed  was  that  of  the  crucifixion,  dropped  down  the 
steep  hill  into  the  Valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  and  followed 
the  roadway  by  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane  and  the 
Tomb  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  around  the  breast  of  Mount 
Olivet.  Once  more  we  saw  one  of  the  several  trees 
upon  which  Judas  hanged  himself,  the  barren  fig  tree 
that  was  cursed  by  Christ,  the  city  slaughter-houses, 
the  stone  upon  which  the  Virgin  rested  on  her  flight 
into  Egypt,  the  place  where  Christ  forgave  Peter  his 
sins,  and  other  interesting  spots  where  the  Russian  pil¬ 
grims  kiss  the  ground,  and  were  pestered  out  of  all  our 
patience  by  old  men  and  old  women  and  bright-eyed 
little  children  with  dirty  faces,  who  attacked  us  almost 
every  foot  of  the  way  begging  for  baksheesh.  The 
children  would  often  run  after  the  carriage  until  they 
were  ready  to  drop  from  exhaustion,  hoping  that  such 
exhibitions  of  patience  and  endurance  would  soften  our 
hearts  to  the  extent  of  a  few  pennies  at  least. 

We  followed  the  road  that  the  Savior  trod  when  he 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  491 


went  down  to  Jordan  to  be  baptized.  He  made  the 
journey  in  two  days,  barefooted,  with  nothing  to  pro¬ 
tect  His  feet  from  the  sharp  stones  and  the  thorns  but 
a  pair  of  rude  sandals.  He  carried  His  food  in  a 
pouch  upon  His  hip  and  slept  in  the  shadow  of  the 
rocks  by  the  roadside,  or  perhaps  He  may  have  spent 
the  night  at  either  of  the  two  places  between  Bethany 
and  Jericho  where  water  and  noonday  shade  may  be 
found.  One  is  known  as  the  Apostle’s  Fountain,  and 
a  large  stream  gushes  out  of  the  rock.  The  other  is 
The  Inn  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  where  the  stranger  of 
whom  Jesus  tells  us  in  the  parable  was  taken  after  he 
was  set  upon  by  thieves. 

As  in  New  Mexico  and  Arizona,  water  is  the  most 
precious  thing  in  Palestine,  and  the  laws  which  protect 
springs  and  wells  are  very  severe.  Most  of  the  wells 
are  artificial.  Rich  men  at  great  expense  have  chiseled 
basins  and  reservoirs  out  of  the  rocks  to  receive  the 
flow  from  springs,  and  in  many  places  where  no  springs 
could  be  found  they  have  drilled  through  the  lime¬ 
stone  a  hundred  feet,  and  sometimes  twice  that  dis¬ 
tance,  to  the  artesian  basin.  None  but  very  rich  sheiks 
could  afford  such  an  expenditure;  nevertheless,  they 
have  not  only  been  the  greatest  benefactors  of  their 
fellow  men,  but  those  who  have  sunk  wells  and  built 
fountains  have  erected  monuments  to  their  fame  more 
enduring  than  palaces  or  temples  or  shafts  of  granite. 
The  Temple  of  Solomon  has  vanished  forever,  but  the 
pools  which  he  walled  up  with  masonry  and  filled  with 
water  still  remain.  The  wells  that  Abraham  and  Jacob 
drilled  in  the  rock  as  acts  of  piety  as  well  as  power  are 
as  immortal  as  their  names,  and  will  live  forever,  as 
long  as  men  feel  thirst. 

According  to  a  just  custom  of  the  country,  water 


4Q2  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

rights  could  never  be  forfeited.  No  man  who  owned 
a  well  might  refuse  a  neighbor  water  for  his  family  or  his 
flocks,  but  the  title  of  the  spring  was  inviolate;  no 
creditor  or  enemy  could  take  water  rights  away  from 
the  owner.  To  injure  or  fill  up  a  well  was  an  unpar¬ 
donable  crime.  When  the  Philistines  threw  earth  and 
stones  into  the  well  of  Abraham  they  intended  to  chal¬ 
lenge  him  to  a  war  of  extermination.  Those  customs 
and  regulations  remain  to-day. 

The  vineyards  in  this  part  of  the  country  are  very 
productive,  particularly  those  along  the  valleys  toward 
Hebron.  For  a  long  distance  the  sloping  hillsides  are 
covered  with  grapevines.  The  vine  stocks  are  made 
to  grow  thick  and  stout  by  trimming  them  down  to  a 
height  of  four  or  five  feet.  Some  are  strong  enough 
to  stand  alone,  but  when  weighted  with  grapes  it  is 
necessary  to  put  in  props  to  support  them,  and  that 
explains  the  presence  of  piles  of  short  poles  with 
notched  ends  in  all  of  the  vineyards.  The  sunny  sides 
of  the  mountains  are  carefully  terraced,  often  to  the 
very  summits,  and,  being  far  from  the  villages  and 
without  fences  or  other  protections,  they  have  to  be 
guarded  after  the  fruit  gets  ripe.  The  young  men  in 
the  neighborhood  act  as  watchmen  in  turn,  both  night 
and  day.  They  take  favorable  points  where  they  can 
survey  the  largest  area,  and  so  that  the  entire  space 
planted  to  grapes  may  be  kept  under  constant  surveil¬ 
lance.  In  some  of  the  vineyards  towers  are  erected  in 
order  to  extend  the  range  of  vision.  The  Bible  speaks 
of  these  watch  towers.  When  a  destructive  animal  or 
a  thief  is  seen,  or  any  other  cause  of  alarm  appears, 
the  watchman  gives  a  peculiar  prolonged  cry,  which  is 
echoed  by  the  other  men  on  guard  until  it  reaches  the 
neighboring  villages. 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  493 

The  wild  country  between  Jerusalem  and  Jericho  was 
formerly  haunted  by  robbers,  and  they  were  none  other 
than  the  sons  of  Ishmael  and  Esau,  who  fed  their 
flocks  upon  the  neighboring  hillsides  and  were  always 
upon  the  lookout  for  weak  and  unprotected  travelers. 
But  the  outrages  that  frequently  occurred  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago  were  stopped  by  placing  the  responsi¬ 
bility  for  protection  of  tourists  and  pilgrims  upon 
Sheik  Rasheed  Arekate,  the  highest  in  rank  of  all  the 
Bedouins  in  Palestine,  a  fierce  fighter,  who  rules  the 
Arabs  in  this  vicinity  without  difficulty,  and  is  less 
hampered  in  his  autocracy  even  than  the  Sultan  of  Tur¬ 
key,  because  the  legislative,  judicial  and  executive 
branches  of  his  government  are  all  in  his  own  person; 
he  exacts  tribute  from  every  merchant  and  traveler  in 
his  realm  and  is  able  to  defy  even  the  governor  of  the 
province.  And  why  not?  His  ancestors  have  owned 
these  deserts  since  the  days  of  Ishmael. 

Abraham  made  a  great  mistake  when,  to  gratify  the 
whim  of  a  jealous  woman,  he  cast  Hagar  and  Ishmael 
adrift,  for  their  sons  have  ever  been  a  menace  and 
terror  to  the  rest  of  his  family.  It  was  the  sons  of 
Ishmael  whom  Balak  called  to  help  him  against  Israel. 
Their  sheiks  went  with  the  elders  of  Moab  to  bring 
Balaam  from  “the  farther  east”  to  curse  the  people  of 
Jehovah,  and  the  last  war  undertaken  by  Moses  was  to 
avenge  Jehovah  upon  Midian.  For  centuries  the  Arab  • 
tribes  made  unceasing  raids  upon  the  Israelites.  Suc¬ 
cessive  civilizations — Jewish,  Assyrian,  Greek,  Roman, 
Christian,  Saracenic,  Turkish — have  come  and  gone, 
but  Ishmael’s  children  have  remained  to  harass  them, 
and,  as  each  retired,  have  swept  their  flanks  as  regu¬ 
larly  and  remorselessly  as  the  surf  of  the  sea. 

The  sons  of  Ishmael  still  herd  their  flocks  upon  the 


494 


TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


pastures  of  Palestine,  and  are  not  only  tolerated  but 
are  feared  by  the  Turkish  authorities,  while  the  sons 
of  Jacob  are  compelled  to  pay  baksheesh  for  the 
privilege  of  living  in  the  land  that  the  Lord  God  gave 
to  their  fathers.  The  sons  of  Ishmael  still  extort 
blackmail  from  the  farmers,  and  if  it  is  withheld, 
destroy  the  harvests,  as  they  did  in  the  time  of  Sam¬ 
son  and  the  Judges.  Throughout  eastern  Palestine  all 
classes  of  people  pay  tribute  regularly  to  the  Bedouin 
sheiks.  It  is  called  “brotherhood.”  The  towns  that 
pay  promptly  and  regularly  are  the  “sisters”  of  the 
tribes  that  make  the  demand.  The  government  again 
and  again  has  endeavored  to  stop  it,  but  has  finally 
found  it  easier  to  close  its  eyes  and  accept  a  percent¬ 
age  of  the  spoils. 

There  being  no  intervening  barrier  upon  the  great 
Arabian  plateau,  floods  of  human  barbarians  have 
swept  back  and  forth  across  Palestine  and  have 
checked  its  development  and  destroyed  its  wealth. 
The  Nomads,  the  sons  of  Esau,  have  had  their  bowl  of 
porridge,  but  have  not  been  identified  with  the  glory 
or  the  greatness  or  the  sufferings  of  the  other  branch 
of  Abraham’s  family.  And  perhaps  if  Abraham  had 
not  driven  Hagar  from  his  tent;  if  Esau  had  not  sold 
his  birthright,  we  to-day  might  not  have  been  called 
upon  to  pay  tribute  to  Rasheed  Arekate.  He  lives  at 
Bethpage,  midway  between  Jerusalem  and  Bethany,  a 
man  of  great  wealth  and  true  Eastern  hospitality.  He 
has  entertained  kings  and  has  escorted  many  distin¬ 
guished  tourists  about  Palestine.  His  house  is  the 
largest  and  the  finest  private  residence  in  that  part  of 
the  country  and  is  adorned  with  souvenirs  of  their 
acquaintance.  But  Chief  Rasheed  is  getting  old  and 
his  three  sons  are  taking  his  place.  They  are  hand- 


MODERN  JERICHO 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  495 

some  men,  fine  horsemen,  with  gracious  manners,  and 
a  firm  grip  upon  the  rights  and  privileges  that  they 
will  inherit  from  their  father.  It  is  their  business  to 
keep  under  control  the  Arab  population  in  an  area 
about  as  large  as  Ohio,  to  escort  travelers  from  place 
to  place  and  to  collect  fees  for  this  service.  There  is 
a  regular  scale  of  prices  arranged  between  Cook’s 
Tourist  Agency  and  Sheik  Rasheed,  but  parties  who 
are  not  in  charge  of  Cook’s  guides  are  blackmailed 
according  to  their  appearance  or  pretentions. 

The  oldest  son  of  the  sheik,  and  his  probable  suc¬ 
cessor,  Chaleel  Rasheed  Arekate,  was  our  escort.  He 
joined  us  at  Bethany  and  kept  us  in  sight  all  day, 
riding  by  the  side  of  the  carriage  occasionally  and 
chatting  pleasantly  in  English,  for  he  was  educated  at 
the  Protestant  school  in  Jerusalem.  He  is  a  genial 
fellow  and  proved  to  be  a  very  agreeable  companion, 
although  toward  the  end  of  the  journey,  when  our 
dragoman  came  to  settle  with  him,  we  discovered  that 
he  had  mistaken  us  for  millionaires  and  had  placed  a 
corresponding  value  upon  his  services.  It  is  a  species 
of  blackmail,  but  is  permitted  by  the  government  and 
tolerated  by  the  public  to  keep  the  Bedouins  quiet. 
Otherwise  there  would  be  continual  disturbances,  and 
it  is  better  to  pay  a  few  dollars  baksheesh  than  be 
robbed  and  perhaps  murdered  on  the  highway.  Prob¬ 
ably  the  Bedouins  of  His  day  suggested  to  Jesus  the 
parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  which  was  spoken  in 
the  temple  court.  It  was  the  habit  of  Jesus  to  illumi¬ 
nate  His  discourses  by  illustrations  of  the  every-day 
experience  of  the  common  people. 

The  first  resting  place  on  the  journey  to  Jericho  is  at 
the  Apostle’s  Spring,  where  the  horses  are  watered  and 
are  given  half  an  hour’s  rest.  Here  Cook’s  agency 


4q6  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


has  erected  a  pavilion  for  the  accommodation  of 
travelers  and  serves  luncheon,  coffee  and  other  wet 
groceries  to  cheer  and  stimulate  thirsty  and  tired  pil¬ 
grims  who  pass  that  way.  The  Inn  of  the  Good 
Samaritan,  about  ten  miles  farther  on,  is  supposed  to 
have  stood  there  long  before  the  days  of  the  Savior, 
and  to  have  served  the  same  purpose  as  now.  The 
present  proprietor  is  a  bustling  young  Arab,  who  talks 
English  perfectly,  and  hurried  around,  serving  coffee, 
chocolate,  beer,  brandies  and  sodas,  sandwiches  and 
other  food,  and  sold  photographs  and  curios  at  the 
same  time.  To  tempt  us  he  said  he  had  some  Ameri¬ 
can  biscuits,  and  brought  out  the  tin.  They  were  hard, 
dry  and  musty,  and  must  have  been  in  stock  for  sev¬ 
eral  generations,  but  we  learned  afterward  that  they 
were  a  most  profitable  investment  for  him.  It  is  his 
custom  to  offer  them  as  tempting  morsels  with  a 
homelike  flavor  to  every  American  traveler  that 
passes  by.  They  are  always  rejected  because  they  are 
unfit  to  eat,  but  are  charged  for  in  the  bill  and  pay¬ 
ment  insisted  upon.  Our  dragoman  fought  desperately 
to  avoid  payment,  but  it  was  no  use.  Although  we 
only  nibbled  at  two  or  three  of  the  crackers,  we  were 
charged  full  price  for  the  entire  box.  Other  travelers 
that  we  talked  with  afterward  had  exactly  the  same 
experience.  The  rascal  sells  that  box  of  biscuits  sev¬ 
eral  times  every  day  during  the  tourist  season,  but, 
unfortunately,  nobody  ever  takes  it  away.  If  the  Inn 
of  the  Good  Samaritan  had  not  been  so  far,  and  if 
other  duties  and  pleasures  had  not  been  calling  us,  we 
would  have  gone  down  there  and  seized  it  as  an  act  of 
righteous  retribution  and  to  end  his  nefarious  con¬ 
spiracy  against  our  fellow  countrymen. 

During  the  winter  season,  usually  from  October 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  497 


until  June,  a  continuous  procession  of  pilgrims  is  pass¬ 
ing  up  and  down  the  old  Roman  road  between  Jerusa¬ 
lem  and  Jericho.  Contrary  to  the  assertion  of  the 
plantation  hymn,  Jordan  isn’t  at  all  a  hard  road  to 
travel.  It  is  the  best  we  have  seen  in  Palestine, 
although  it  is  all  downhill  one  way  and  all  uphill  the 
other.  The  pilgrims  are  mostly  Russians,  Very  few 
come  from  any  other  country  except  France,  and  they 
are  only  scattering,  while  the  Russians  form  a  solid  and 
almost  unbroken  stream,  loaded  down  with  heavy  win¬ 
ter  clothes,  high  boots  with  thick  soles,  big  bags  full 
of  supplies,  blankets,  bedding  and  cooking  utensils 
strapped  to  their  backs.  They  are  not  agreeable  com¬ 
pany.  They  are  too  perspiring  and  odorous,  and  their 
long  hair  and  beards  are  inhabited  by  unmentionable 
things.  When  they  get  weary  they  lie  down  in  the 
middle  of  the  road  and  sleep  for  a  while.  When  they 
wake  up  they  make  a  cup  of  tea,  eat  a  few  crusts  and 
go  on  cheerfully.  They  always  carry  their  own  prov¬ 
ender  and  cook  their  own  meals,  which  are  simple 
and  consist  only  of  tea,  bread  and  dried  fish.  There 
is  a  popular  notion  that  they  eat  candles,  but  I  am 
assured  it  isn’t  true.  All  of  them  are  peasants,  but 
some  are  better  off  than  others,  having  saved  their 
earnings  for  years  to  make  this  pilgrimage,  for  if  they 
can  wash  in  Jordan  it  gives  them  a  clear  title  to  para¬ 
dise,  and,  somewhere  in  his  bundle,  each  one  has  a 
white  robe  for  that  purpose  which  he  will  keep  for  his 
shroud. 

They  think  it  is  their  duty  to  kiss  every  object  of 
reputed  sanctity.  They  bow  and  press  their  lips  to  the 
dusty  earth  because  it  was  once  trodden  by  the 
Savior’s  feet;  they  kiss  the  stones  of  the  walls  that 
surround  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  the  rocks 


498  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


upon  which  the  Virgin  Mother  is  said  to  have  sat;  they 
wear  out  the  glass  upon  the  pictures  at  the  shrines  by 
the  pressure  of  their  lips;  they  kiss  the  columns  and 
pillars  and  even  the  thresholds  of  the  churches.  Their 
credulity  surpasses  belief.  If  one  of  their  big-bearded 
monks  should  tell  them  that  the  Savior  had  crossed  a 
certain  stream  every  man  and  woman  would  instantly 
fall  upon 'his  or  her  knees  and  try  to  lap  up  the  water 
with  their  tongues. 

As  the  road  runs  down  the  limestone  hills  on  the 
road  to  Jericho  the  country  becomes  more  and  more 
barren;  the  flocks  of  sheep  and  goats  grow  smaller  and 
farther  between.  The  herdsmen,  who  carry  old-fash¬ 
ioned  guns  with  long  barrels  inlaid  with  silver  and 
stocks  inlaid  with  mother-of-pearl,  such  as  you  see  in 
the  museums  and  curio  stores,  crouch  in  the  shade  and 
sit  cross-legged,  gazing  stupidly  at  the  carriages  that 
pass  by,  and  trample  down  the  wild  flowers,  which 
seem  to  thrive  where  nothing  else  will  grow — poppies, 
anemones,  buttercups,  forget-me-nots  and  the  humble 
dandelion  are  everywhere,  and  mustard  plants  look 
like  great  yellow  blotches  on  the  hillsides.  The  hills 
are  arid  and  gray.  This  is  the  “wilderness”  that  we 
read  of  in  the  Bible,  and  at  the  bottom  of  a  precipitous, 
yawning  gulf  runs  the  brook  Cherith,  which  you 
remember,  was  the  home  of  Elisha  the  Tishbite,  after 
he  came  across  Jordan  from  Gilead,  and  half-way  up 
the  cliff  is  a  Greek  monastery  clinging  to  the  rocky 
walls,  which  is  said  to  mark  the  place  where  he  was 
fed  by  the  ravens.  I  do  not  know  that  we  saw  the 
ravens  that  fed  him,  but  they  were  very  numerous 
along  the  roadway,  and  we  are  told  that  they  live  to  a 
very  great  age. 

We  had  to  dismount  from  the  carriage  to  relieve 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  499 


the  horses,  because  the  road  becomes  dangerous,  and 
so  rough  that  the  vehicle  might  be  upset,  and  walk 
around  the  edge  of  a  sharp  promontory,  where  a  view 
of  the  Dead  Sea  and  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  bursts 
upon  us,  just  as  Moses  might  have  seen  it  from  Pisgah. 
It  is  a  long,  gray  strip  of  land,  with  a  high  wall  of 
rugged  mountains  in  the  background.  Those  are  the 
mountains  of  Moab  through  which  Israel  came  from 
Egypt,  although  they  seem  impassable.  The  highest 
peak  is  Nebo,  where  Moses  lies  in  an  unknown  grave. 
A  little  farther  to  the  northward  the  second  peak  in 
elevation  is  called  Pisgah,  although  the  name  is  not 
known  to  the  maps.  A  sheet  of  shining  water,  lying 
off  to  the  southward  and  glistening  like  a  new  dollar, 
is  the  Dead  Sea;  a  silver  serpent  that  seems  to  be 
crawling  along  the  brown  earth  is  the  Jordan,  with  a 
fringe  of  foliage  here  and  there,  while  a  green  spot,  so 
green  as  to  be  livid  in  contrast  with  the  brownness  of 
the  rest  of  the  landscape,  is  the  ancient  City  of  Jericho. 
There  is  said  to  be  no  landscape  in  all  the  rest  of 
Palestine  so  grateful  to  the  eye  after  riding  all  day 
among  the  desolate  hills  and  through  the  rocky  gorges, 
and  we  are  told  that  this  oasis  in  the  desert  is  due 
to  a  single  spring,  illustrating  what  a  little  water  will 
accomplish  in  a  thirsty  land. 

In  the  mountains  that  lie  between  Jerusalem  and  the 
valley  of  the  Dead  Sea  are  only  three  trails  that  can  be 
followed  by  human  beings,  and  the  shortest  is  about 
eight  hours.  It  is  the  road  over  which  we  have  come, 
and  one  of  the  oldest  highways  in  the  world.  On 
the  other  side  of  Jordan,  where  the  mountains  of  Moab 
loom  up  so  stern  and  forbidding,  was  the  land  of  Ruth 
and  Naomi,  who  went  to  Bethlehem  over  this  road. 
Moab  is  visible  from  Bethlehem,  and  when  Ruth  lifted 


500  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


her  eyes  from  gleaning  in  the  fields  of  Boaz,  she  could 
see  the  purple  peaks  of  her  native  country. 

The  curious  red  streaks  that  appear  in  the  rocks 
along  the  way  are  often  pointed  out  to  pilgrims  as  the 
stains  of  the  blood  of  the  martyrs.  This  road  is  called 
“the  ascent  of  blood/’  although  I  cannot  find  out  why, 
and  during  the  crusades  the  Knights  Templar  built  the 
Red  Khan — the  Castel  Rouge,  the  French  call  it — for 
the  protection  of  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  the  scene  of 
the  Savior’s  baptism  in  Jordan. 

Looking  northward  we  can  see  Gilead  “on  the  other 
side  of  Jordan,’’  but  we  cannot  go  there.  It  was  too 
long  and  too  hard  a  journey,  with  nothing  particular 
to  see  except  the  scenes  of  perpetual  strife.  Gilead 
was  a  battleground  for  centuries.  The  Jews  held  it 
from  the  exodus  to  the  Babylonian  captivity,  and  it 
witnessed  the  noblest  exhibitions  of  Hebrew  heroism. 
Mizpah  is  in  Gilead — the  gathering  place  of  Israel. 
David  was  the  first  of  the  kings  to  bring  all  eastern 
Palestine  under  supremacy,  and  so  completely  did  he 
win  the  hearts  of  Gilead  that  when  Absalom’s  rebel¬ 
lion  broke  out  he  sought  refuge  there,  and  there  fought 
the  battle  of  the  woods,  when  Absalom  was  hanged  by 
his  long  hair  in  an  oak.  Solomon  did  not  command 
the  affections  of  the  people  and  could  not  control  the 
country.  During  his  reign  Damascus  grew  in  power 
and  took  much  of  it  away  from  him,  and  the  arrival  of 
Pompey  with  his  Roman  legions  in  the  year  64  B.  C. 
closed  Israel’s  domination. 

That  is  a  mysterious  region  “on  the  other  side  of 
Jordan.”  The  mountains  of  Moab  look  like  another 
part  of  the  world,  and  are  full  of  strange  phenomena 
and  freaks  of  nature.  The  young  sheik  Racheed,  our 
escort,  gave  me  a  yarn  about  curious  subterranean 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  501 

towns,  the  most  famous  being  called  Edrei.  A  gorge 
winds  around  the  southern  boundary  of  the  plain  of 
Hauron,  he  says,  and  isolates  the  town  on  all  sides 
except  the  south,  where  it  can  be  approached  on  a 
level,  but  the  citadel  is  completely  cut  off  and  leads  to 
caves  below  which  are  impregnable.  Racheed  says 
they  were  chiseled  out  of  the  rocks  by  a  race  of  giants. 
These  caves  are  the  wonder  of  the  country,  he  says, 
and  are  divided  into  streets  with  the  ruins  of  shops, 
factories  and  market  places.  The  Bible  does  not  men¬ 
tion  them,  but  Racheed  knows  lots  of  things  that  are 
not  mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

In  the  midst  of  the  oasis  that  lies  at  our  feet  the 
hovels  of  modern  Jericho  sit  upon  the  ruins  of  buried 
temples  and  palaces  of  the  ancient  city,  which  some 
day,  as  soon  as  the  Great  Turk  is  reasonable,  may  be 
excavated  by  archeologists  and  disclose  important 
historical  facts.  You  remember  that  the  walls  of  the 
old  town  fell  at  the  sound  of  Joshua’s  trumpets,  and 
they  still  lie  where  they  fell,  but  upon  them  arose 
another  city,  a  city  of  palaces,  built  by  Herod  the 
Great,  who  lived  and  died  in  its  gardens  of  oranges, 
dates  and  pomegranates.  At  one  time  he  gave  it  as  a 
gift  to  Cleopatra,  who  was  his  mistress  before  she  met 
Mark  Antony.  Its  great  towers  and  gates  are  described 
in  glowing  terms  in  the  history  of  the  Roman  occupa¬ 
tion.  There  were  a  theater,  a  circus,  a  university  and 
many  artistic  beauties  that  were  borrowed  of  Greece. 

That  was  the  Jericho  which  Jesus  entered  one  morn¬ 
ing  with  a  caravan,  but  He  did  not  remain  in  the 
wicked  city.  He  stopped  with  Zacchaeus,  the  man 
who,  being  short  of  stature,  climbed  a  tree  like  Gen¬ 
eral  Wheeler  at  the  battle  of  Santiago,  in  order  that  he 
might  see  the  New  Prophet  over  the  heads  of  the 


502  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


crowd.  Zacchaeus  was  an  official  of  the  government, 
like  Matthew,  a  collector  of  taxes  for  the  Roman 
authorities,  and  therefore  was  abhorred  by  the  Jews. 

And  when  Jesus  called  him  to  come  down  from  the  tree 

<» 

and  asked  to  be  his  guest  the  multitude  murmured  as 
they  might  do  if  President  Roosevelt  would  decline 
the  hospitality  of  the  Union  League  Club  and  go  to 
dinner  with  a  Chicago  alderman. 

The  Jericho  to-day  is  a  collection  of  wretched  cabins, 
inhabited  by  a  peculiar  people,  who  are  unlike  any 
others  in  Palestine,  being  a  sort  of  mixed  race  and  very 
depraved  in  character.  There  are  several  good  hotels 
and  hospices  for  the  accommodation  of  pilgrims,  a  big 
Russian  church,  and  the  sheik’s  residence — a  square 
house  of  stone,  which,  tradition  says,  stands  upon  the 
spot  where  Zacchaeus  lived. 

To  lighten  the  carriage  we  leave  our  luggage  at  the 
hotel  and  drive  on  to  a  fine  spring  of  fresh  water, 
which  was  turned  from  bitter  to  sweet  by  the  prophet 
Elisha.  He  sprinkled  it  with  a  “cruse  of  salt,”  and 
ever  since  it  has  irrigated  a  large  and  fertile  section  of 
Jordan’s  valley,  as  he  promised  them  it  should.  “And 
he  went  forth  unto  the  spring  of  water  and  cast  the  salt 
in  there  and  said:  ‘Thus  said  the  Lord,  I  have  healed 
these  waters;  there  shall  not  be  from  henceforth  any 
more  death  or  barren  land.’  ” 

There  is  an  eating  and  drinking  place  under  a  can¬ 
vas  awning,  and  you  can  sit  down  and  rest  awhile  and 
look  at  the  spring  and  think,  but  not  long,  because  the 
restaurant  keeper  will  insist  upon  trying  to  sell  you 
curios. 

Rising  above  you  is  a  sharp  bluff  about  4,000  feet 
from  the  Jordan,  which  is  claimed  to  be  the  Mount  of 
Temptation  where  Satan  took  the  Savior  and  offered 


BETHANY,  HEBRON,  SHILOH,  JERICHO  503 


Him  the  whole  world,  which  was  spread  out  before 
them.  I  cannot  quite  understand  that  story.  The 
view  from  the  top  of  that  mountain  is  one  of  the  most 
desolate  and  repulsive  in  all  the  world,  and  Satan  could 
not  have  tempted  the  poorest  and  humblest  man  with 
1,000,000  square  miles  of  it.  But  all  the  sects  in  the 
Eastern  world  believe  in  the  place,  and  have  believed 
in  it  from  the  beginning,  and  the  mountain  is  filled 
with  the  ruins  of  old  monasteries,  old  tombs,  the 
towers  of  forsaken  hermitages,  where  anchorites  and 
saints  came  centuries  ago  and  imitated  the  Savior  by 
fasting  and  prayer,  first  exorcising  the  Great  Tempter 
and  other  evil  spirits. 

At  one  time  it  was  the  fashion  for  penitents  and 
people  seeking  absolution  for  their  sins  to  desert  their 
homes  and  take  refuge  in  the  cheerless  caverns  of  this 
mountain,  there  to  live  and  die,  and  some  of  the  cav¬ 
erns  are  strewn  with  human  bones  awaiting  the  resur¬ 
rection.  St  Louis,  the  King  of  France,  spent  several 
months  there  once,  and  kept  Lent  on  the  very  spot 
where  he  supposed  that  the  Lord  was  tempted. 

Jericho  was  once  called  the  City  of  Palms,  but  there 
are  no  palms  here  now.  The  last  was  seen  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Robinson  in  1838.  The  city  was  formerly  the 
center  of  a  large  trade  and  shipped  dates  and  other 
fruits  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  but  now  everything 
that  is  eaten  at  the  hotels  has  to  be  brought  down  from 
Jerusalem.  The  Saracens  introduced  sugar  culture 
into  the  valley  of  the  Jordan,  but  the  crusaders 
destroyed  the  plantations  and  mills,  and  the  industry 
has  never  been  revived. 


XXV 


The  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea 


XXV 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA 

The  Jordan  is  unique  among  rivers.  There  is  no 
other  like  it  on  the  surface  of  the  globe,  and  its  phys¬ 
ical  peculiarities  are  many  and  striking.  Thousands 
of  streams  are  more  beautiful  and  useful,  but  none  has 
ever  attracted  so  much  attention  or  is  so  universally 
known  to  mankind.  To  half  the  universe  this  ugly, 
muddy  stream  is  a  symbol  of  the  frontier  between  the 
known  and  the  unknown  worlds,  separating  the  pil¬ 
grims  and  the  saints,  the  labor  and  the  rest,  the  cross 
and  the  crown,  the  toil  and  the  glory  of  the  soul.  It 
flows  160  miles  through  a  deep  fissure  in  the  earth  that 
is  from  two  to  fifteen  miles  broad,  and  rapidly  drops 
from  the  limestone  cliffs  of  Lebanon  into  the  Dead 
Sea,  1,292  feet  below  the  level  of  the  neighboring 
Mediterranean.  The  valley  of  the  Jordan  is  filled  with 
silt  washed  by  heavy  rains  from  the  surface  of  the 
adjacent  mountains,  whose  naked  cliffs  stick  out  of  the 
soil  like  the  bony  elbows  of  a  beggar.  The  water  is 
clear  and  green  where  it  leaves  the  Sea  of  Galilee;  an 
Arab  poet  has  called  it  a  gigantic  green  serpent,  but 
it  isn’t  green  very  long;  it  gathers  soil  along  its 
journey  until  it  becomes  a  thick  solution  of  clay,  the 
color  of  chocolate,  even  darker  than  the  waters  of  the 
Missouri  River. 

Between  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea  the 
Jordan  plunges  over  twenty-seven  cascades  and  rapids 
and  falls  a  thousand  feet,  more  than  any  other  known 

507 


5o8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


river  except  the  Sacramento  in  California.  These 
rapids  gave  it  its  name,  for  Jordan  means  literally  “the 
down-comer.”  In  March  and  April,  when  the  warm 
spring  sun  melts  the  snows  in  the  mountains,  there  is 
always  a  flood  which  inundates  the  valley,  but  seldom 
does  any  injury  because  there  is  nothing  to  injur’e. 

Jordan  is  one  of  the  crookedest  rivers  known.  In 
covering  a  distance  of  sixty  miles,  for  that  is  the  length 
of  a  straight  line  drawn  on  the  map  between  the  Sea  of 
Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea,  it  runs  212  miles  because  of 
the  multiplications  of  its  windings,  and  its  length 
varies  because  of  frequent  changes  in  the  course  which 
it  carves  for  itself  in  the  -soft  and  barren  soil.  The 
clay  of  its  banks  makes  good  brick  material,  and  Solo¬ 
mon  used  it  in  the  construction  of  the  temple,  but 
there  is  very  little  demand  for  it  at  present.  Few 
buildings  are  being  erected  in  Palestine  these  days, 
and  stone  is  very  cheap. 

The  actual  stream  between  the  two  lakes  varies  from 
sixty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  width  and  from  six  to 
twenty  feet  deep  at  a  normal  stage  of  water,  but  in 
midsummer,  during  the  dry  season,  it  can  be  crossed 
in  several  places  by  a  man  with  ordinary  boots. 
Where  it  is  widest  the  banks  and  the  bottom  are  mud; 
where  it  is  narrowest  they  are  rock.  The  immediate 
valley  will  average  eight  miles  in  width,  and,  on  the 
east  side,  is  shut  in  by  a  range  of  mountains  covered 
with  forests  and  forbidding  plains  of  naked  desert, 
while  on  the  other  side,  toward  the  Mediterranean,  are 
broken  ranges  of  hills  intersected  by  fertile  valleys 

Evidences  of  volcanic  action  are  frequent — masses 
of  lava  and  bitumen  are  disclosed  at  several  places, 
hot  springs  that  burst  out  of  the  hillsides,  twisted  strata 
of  rock  that  appear  to  have  been  involved  in  some  ter- 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  509 

rible  cataclysm,  and  the  ruins  of  cities  that  have  been 
destroyed  by  earthquakes.  Geologists  say  that  the 
entire  country  which  surrounds  the  Jordan  was  once 
filled  with  water  from  which  the  granite  peaks  of  Sinai, 
Hermon  and  the  Lebanons  alone  protruded.  Under 
pressure  the  limestone  bed  rose  above  the  water  in 
long  folds  running  north  and  south.  This  was  caused 
by  contraction  in  the  cooling  of  the  earth’s  crust,  and 
these  folds  are  now  the  ranges  of  hills  on  either  side 
of  the  river.  Had  the  two  folds  of  limestone  risen 
independently,  an  arm  of  the  Red  Sea  would  to-day 
wash  the  feet  of  Lebanon,  but  a  diagonal  ridge  rose 
with  them  which  not  only  shut  out  the  Red  Sea,  but 
shut  in  a  large  quantity  of  salt  water,  which  by  cli¬ 
matic  changes  continued  to  evaporate  until  it  was 
reduced  to  the  present  dimensions  of  the  Dead  Sea. 
It  would  doubtless  continue  to  diminish  were  it  not  fed 
by  the  springs  of  the  mountains  and  the  Jordan. 

Although  the  course  of  the  river  is  marked  by  rank 
vegetation  useless  for  human  purposes,  the  depth  of 
its  channel  and  the  valley  in  which  it  flows  prevent 
the  waters  from  escaping  like  those  of  other  rivers  to 
fertilize  the  adjacent  plains.  They  cannot  be  used  for 
irrigation  without  an  enormous  expenditure  of  money 
for  pumps,  reservoirs  and  other  artificial  auxiliaries. 
Several  of  its  tributaries,  however,  can  be  tapped,  and 
wherever  water  can  reach  the  soil,  vegetation  is  luxu¬ 
rious.  The  high  temperature  makes  the  valley  a  natural 
hothouse.  Swamps  abound  and  there  is  much  malaria. 
The  entire  region  is  unhealthful,  and  is  affected  with 
innumerable  insect  pests.  Dead  driftwood  and  snags 
obstruct  the  channel — large  trunks  of  half-decayed 
trees  with  their  roots  exposed,  which  have  been 
washed  out  by  the  floods  but  are  too  big  to  float  any 


5io  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 

farther.  The  entire  valley  is  uninviting,  unwholesome 
and  almost  uninhabited.  It  resembles  the  Bad  Lands 
of  South  Dakota,  with  the  Jordan  as  the  Little  Missouri 
River.  The  trees  are  tamaracks,  willow,  bamboo  and 
greasewood,  while  mustard  and  sage  brush  abound  in 
the  plains.  Camels  like  the  sage  brush,  but  neither 
goats  nor  donkeys  will  eat  it.  There  are  a  few  catfish 
in  the  Jordan;  “fish  with  long  black  whiskers,”  was 
the  way  in  which  the  dragoman  described  them. 

Jordan  valley  was  never  densely  populated,  although 
Jericho  was  once  a  flourishing  place,  and  we  read  in 
the  Bible  of  “the  cities  of  the  plain.”  The  “Zion¬ 
ists,”  who  are  trying  to  re-people  Palestine  with  Jews, 
talk  fluently  of  the  possibility  of  establishing  large  and 
profitable  colonies  in  this  unnatural  and  repulsive 
sink,  and  publish  plausible  estimates  of  the  amount  of 
sugar  that  can  be  produced  upon  the  banks  of  the  Jor¬ 
dan;  but  they  fail  to  consider  certain  conditions.  The 
Sultan  of  Turkey  has  a  private  estate  about  midway 
between  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea,  where  he  raises 
sugar,  cotton,  rice  and  dates,  by  soldier  labor,  but  he 
is  the  only  successful  planter  in  the  entire  valley.  No 
employer  without  his  despotic  power  can  induce  work¬ 
men  to  stay  in  a  region  where  the  summer  heat  is 
intolerable,  ranging  from  104  to  1 18  degrees  daily  in 
the  shade,  where  mosquitoes  and  other  insect  pests  are 
often  unendurable,  and  where  poisonous  miasma  fills 
the  atmosphere. 

Modern  inquirers  will  always  be  mystified  as  to  how 
people  crossed  the  Jordan  in  early  times.  There  are 
occasional  fords,  but  the  abrupt  muddy  banks  are 
difficult  to  climb,  and  the  lower  the  water  the  greater 
the  difficulty.  The  shallowest  ford,  at  the  mean 
height  of  the  water,  is  never  lower  than  one  foot,  and 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  511 

the  changes  of  course  are  so  frequent  that  sometimes 
a  traveler  has  to  cross  three  or  four  streams  in  the 
place  of  one.  In  olden  times,  therefore,  it  used  to  be 
an  excellent  military  boundary.  To  Israel  the  crossing 
was  as  great  a  crisis  as  that  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  several 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament  show  how  great  a  gulf 
of  separation  the  Jordan  was  with  its  jungles,  its  muddy 
banks  and  rapid  current. 

Until  the  Romans  came  there  were  no  bridges  across 
the  Jordan.  Bridges  are  not  once  mentioned  in  the 
Bible,  not  even  in  the  New  Testament,  although  the 
Romans,  who  were  great  bridge  builders,  must  by  that 
time  have  erected  many  in  the  country.  Herod  was 
an  unceasing  builder  of  palaces,  temples,  castles, 
theaters  and  other  public  buildings,  and  bridged  the 
Jordan  several  times,  but  only  two  bridges  over  the 
Jordan  now  remain  in  a  distance  of  212  miles,  which  is 
a  disgrace  to  the  Turkish  government.  Some  com¬ 
mentators  upon  the  Bible  believe  that  the  Israelites 
had  ferry  boats;  others  suggest  that  they  made  use  of 
inflated  sheepskins. 

The  heathen  races  in  Palestine  used  to  curse  Jordan 
with  contempt,  but  to  the  Hebrews  it  was  always  a 
holy  river.  When  Elisha  told  Naaman,  the  leper,  to 

go  and  wash  in  Jordan  it  was  considered  the  height 

<*■ 

of  absurdity.  John  the  Baptist  selected  its  solitude 
for  the  theater  of  his  ministry,  and  baptized  Jesus 
there  to  emphasize  the  simplicity  and  asceticism  which 
the  former  taught.  The  exact  spot  where  Jesus  was 
baptized  can  never  be  located,  although  we  know  it 
was  in  the  wilderness  of  the  desert  plain,  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  where  “John  was  baptizing  beyond 
Jordan.”  This  locality  has  never  been  inhabited 
except  by  hermits  for  ascetic  seclusion,  and  therefore 


512  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


there  are  no  traditions  to  trace.  And  we  know  it  was 
from  the  same  wilderness  that  Jesus  was  “led  up’ ’  by 
the  spirit  into  the  Mount  of  the  Temptation. 

Of  course  the  guides  would  not  fail  to  select  a 
proper  place.  As  usual  the  Greeks  have  one  and  the 
Roman  Catholics  another,  both  equally  authentic,  and 
the  guides  lead  the  pilgrims  so  that  they  may  enter 
the  water  precisely  where  Jesus  did.  Some  of  the  pil¬ 
grims  usually  become  hysterical,  singing,  shouting  and 
praying,  strip  themselves  naked  before  they  reach  the 
water  and  plunge  into  the  muddy  current  without  con¬ 
sidering  its  depth  and  other  dangers,  to  be  cleansed  of 
their  sins,  for  spiritual  absolution  is  promised  to  all 
who  make  the  pilgrimage.  Most  of  them,  however, 
undress  leisurely,  men  and  women  together  without 
regard  to  the  laws  of  propriety,  and  clothe  themselves 
in  the  white  shrouds  which  they  bring  with  them  and 
afterwards  keep  for  their  winding  sheets. 

The  water  is  about  four  feet  deep  at  the  place  where 
the  Greeks  think  Jesus  was  baptized  and  where  most 
of  the  pilgrims  go.  The  banks  are  very  steep  and 
muddy,  so  that  the  cleansing  process  is  entirely 
theoretical.  No  person  can  get  in  or  get  out  of  the 
water  without  becoming  thoroughly  covered  with 
mud.  There  are  no  bath-houses,  although  the  priests 
might  easily  erect  them;  no  planks,  no  grass,  and  no 
shelter  of  any  kind.  The  best  that  can  be  done  is  to 
spread  a  blanket  on  the  mud  and  use  that  for  a  dress¬ 
ing-room.  The  excuse  given  for  not  building  bathing- 
houses  is  the  expense  of  lumber,  but  the  Greeks  make 
immense  amounts  of  money  from  the  pilgrims,  and  it 
would  cost  comparatively  little  to  put  up  a  few  cheap 
sheds  and  provide  floats  and  stairs  by  which  people 
could  descend  into  the  water  decently. 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  513 

Intelligent  men  and  women  often  come  all  the  way 
from  Europe,  and  occasionally  from  the  United  States, 
to  be  baptized  in  Jordan.  They  tell  of  rich  men  who 
not  only  come  themselves,  but  bring  clergymen  with 
them  for  the  purpose  of  performing  the  ceremony. 
Others  induce  missionaries  in  Jerusalem  to  come  down 
and  dip  or  sprinkle  them,  and  are  willing  to  pay  a 
large  fee  for  the  service.  Some  are  prompted  merely 
by  sentiment;  others  are  under  the  delusion  that  there 
is  a  special  saving  grace  in  the  waters  and  that  the  act 
of  immersion  in  a  stream  where  the  Savior  of  Men  was 
baptized  will  wash  away  any  amount  of  sin. 

Tin  cans,  shaped  like  the  canteen  of  a  soldier,  are 
provided  for  tourists  who  wish  to  carry  Jordan  water 
back  home  with  them,  but  they  are  cautioned  that  it  is 
necessary  to  boil  and  filter  it  before  sealing  the  bot¬ 
tle,  or  they  will  find  it  very  foul  at  the  end  of  their 
journey.  Not  only  mud,  but  all  kinds  of  filth  are 
carried  in  solution,  and  myriads  of  microbes. 

The  place  where  the  Israelites  crossed  the  Jordan  is 
pointed  out  with  great  confidence  by  the  guides,  and 
the  archeologists  of  the  Palestine  Exploration  Society 
have  identified  the  modern  village  of  Tell  Kefrein,  on 
the  east  side,  with  Abel-Shittim,  the  place  where  the 
Israelites  pitched  their  last  camp  before  crossing  into 
the  Land  of  Promise.  Here,  according  to  Josephus, 
Moses  completed  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy,  and 
under  the  shade  of  a  group  of  palm  trees  which  still 
decorate  the  summit  of  a  mound,  he  delivered  his  last 
address  to  the  children  of  Israel.  From  this  encamp¬ 
ment  went  out  the  two  military  expeditions  which 
subdued  Gilead  and  Bashan,  and  enabled  the  two  and 
a  half  tribes  to  occupy  peacefully  their  chosen  inherit¬ 
ance  upon  that  side  of  the  river.  The  ford  at  which 


514  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


the  other  tribes  crossed  is  believed  to  be  within  the 
immediate  vicinity,  perhaps  three  or  four  miles  up  or 
down  the  stream,  but  thoughtful  men  hesitate  about 
accepting  any  particular  spot,  because  of  the  frequent 
changes  in  the  channel. 

Somewhere,  but  no  man  can  determine  the  spot, 
Moses,  the  great  leader  and  law-giver  of  Israel,  stood 
and  gazed  upon  “the  land  which  he  was  to  see  with  his 
eyes,  but  was  not  to  go  in  thither.”  It  might  have 
been  upon  any  one  of  several  high  peaks  among  the 
mountains  of  Moab.  Nebo  is  bold,  barren  and  rugged, 
but  is  not  strictly  “over  against  Jericho,”  although, 
perhaps,  three-fourths  of  the  entire  area  of  Palestine, 
including  Jerusalem  and  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  are  visible 
from  its  summit.  The  name  Pisgah  has  never  been 
known  to  the  Bedouins  who  inhabit  this  country.  It 
appears  only  in  the  Bible  and  was  evidently  a  figure  of 
speech.  Nebo  was  named  in  honor  of  a  pagan  deity, 
whose  altars  may  still  be  found  upon  its  summit. 
Some  authorities  believe  that  Nebo  and  Pisgah  were 
perhaps  the  same  mountain,  where  the  sacred  story  of 
Moses  was  brought  to  a  close,  and  where  the  mighty 
hosts,  numbering  between  2,000,000  and  3,000,000  of 
people,  whom  he  had  guided  through  the  wilderness 
and  across  the  deserts  for  forty  years,  saw  the  prom¬ 
ised  land  spread  out  before  them;  and  somewhere  in 
the  gorges  cut  by  the  merry  streams  that  plunge  over 
its  rocky  walls,  where  no  other  human  foot  has  trod¬ 
den,  there  his  body  was  laid. 

“And  Moses  died  in  the  mount  whither  he  had  gone 
up,  and  he  was  gathered  unto  his  people,  as  Aaron, 
his  brother,  had  died  on  Mount  Hor,  and  was  gathered 
to  his  people.  He  died  in  the  land  of  Moab,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and  he  buried  him  in  a 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  515 

ravine  in  the  land  of  Moab  before  Beth-peor,  but  no 
man  knoweth  of  his  sepulcher  to  this  day.” 

In  spite  of  this  positive  and  definite  assertion,  the 
Mohammedans  have  erected  a  rude  mosque  upon  a 
promontory  overlooking  the  Dead  Sea,  which  they 
call  “The  Tomb  of  the  Prophet  Moses,”  and  they  have 
named  a  group  of  springs  near  by  “The  Fountains  of 
Moses,”  because,  according  to  their  traditions,  he 
rested  and  refreshed  himself  there  until  Jehovah  sum¬ 
moned  his  spirit.  These  places  are  so  sacred  that 
Christians  are  not  permitted  to  approach  them,  and 
during  the  spring  months  of  each  year  thousands  of 
Mohammedan  pilgrims  find  their  way  to  worship  the 
alleged  sepulcher  of  the  Hebrew  hero  with  demonstra¬ 
tions  of  a  remarkable  character.  Both  shrines  are  con¬ 
trolled  by  whirling  dervishes,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
monks  of  this  order  who  become  insane,  as  they  often 
do  by  fasting  and  by  the  violence  of  their  muscular 
exertions  at  worship,  are  confined  there  and  are 
released  only  upon  a  certain  day  of  the  year — the  anni¬ 
versary  of  the  death  of  Moses,  according  to  their 
calendar. 

Rasheed,  our  Bedouin  escort,  says  that  these  stories 
are  true,  and  he  describes  the  fountains  of  Moses  and 
the  scene  of  his  sepulcher  as  a  most  beautiful  natural 
park  extending  over  a  ledge  of  limestone  that  is  car¬ 
peted  with  moss,  shaded  by  enormous  pines  and 
illuminated  by  thick  masses  of  flowering  oleanders. 
Four  perpetual  springs  are  the  source  of  a  stream 
which  plunges  over  a  steep  declivity  and  forces  its  way 
to  the  Dead  Sea. 

Mount  Sinai  is  fourteen  days’  journey  by  camel  car¬ 
avan  southward,  upon  a  peninsula  extending  into  the 
Red  Sea,  and  surrounded  by  an  irredeemable  desert. 


516  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


The  Dead  Sea  is  about  four  miles  from  Jericho. 
There  is  no  road;  there  are  no  bridges,  but  during  the 
dry  season  a  wagon  may  cross  the  barren  plain  almost 
anywhere,  for  it  is  like  the  Bad  Lands  of  Dakota, 
except  that  the  surface  is  coated  with  salt  and  gypsum 
instead  of  alkali.  During  the  rainy  season  it  is 
impassable.  When  the  soil  is  saturated  with  water  it 
sticks  to  the  wheels  and  makes  them  so  heavy  that  no 
team  can  haul  them.  There  are  several  camel  trails, 
which  are  usually  followed  by  the  drivers  because 
they  lead  around  the  heads  of  the  gulches  that  the 
heavy  rains  have  washed  in  the  soft  soil,  but  a  camel 
usually  is  a  poor  pathfinder,  and  the  unnecessary  dis¬ 
tance  covered  by  their  trails  would  exasperate  an 
American  frontiersman. 

There  is  no  water  upon  the  plain  in  the  dry  season, 
but  in  the  rainy  season  the  gulches  are  roaring  turrents, 
for  they  carry  the  drainage  of  the  mountains  into  the 
Jordan.  A  few  trees  are  scattered  along  the  bed  of  the 
river,  and  occasional  bunches  of  greasewood,  sage  and 
mustard  upon  the  plain.  A  Greek  monastery,  with  a 
stately  dome,  marking  the  place  where  John  the  Bap¬ 
tist  is  said  to  have  had  his  abode  in  the  wilderness  and 
where  he  lived  on  locusts  and  wild  honey,  is  the  only 
human  habitation.  The  only  other  shelter  is  a  hut 
built  of  mud  and  driftwood  on  the  beach,  where  the 
carriages  of  tourists  usually  come  to  the  water  and 
where  the  only  boat  that  plies  the  Dead  Sea  makes  its 
landing. 

The  hut  is  occupied  by  two  or  three  disreputable 
looking  Arabs,  who  were  winnowing  wheat  that  morn¬ 
ing  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  The  boat  had  brought  a 
couple  of  bags  of  grain  from  the  other  end  of  the  sea 
and  left  it  with  them.  They  spread  their  cotton  cloaks 


AT  THE  DEAD  SEA 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  517 


upon  the  gravel  and  threw  the  wheat  by  shovelfuls 
into  the  air.  The  kernels  fell  upon  the  mantles,  while 
the  breeze  carried  the  chaff  over  toward  the  water. 
By  repeating  this  process  three  or  four  times  they 
managed  to  get  the  grain  fairly  clean. 

The  Dead  Sea  occupies  a  sink  inclosed  on  three 
sides  by  precipitous  and  barren  mountains.  On  the 
Moab  shore  they  rise  to  the  height  of  3,500  feet,  on 
the  Jerusalem  side  to  2,500  feet,  and  touch  the  water  in 
two  places,  being  cut  by  rocky  gorges.  The  Dead  Sea 
is  almost  the  shape  and  dimensions  of  Lake  Geneva  in 
Switzerland,  being  forty-seven  miles  in  length  and 
nine  and  a  half  miles  wide  at  the  widest  part.  Near 
the  center  it  is  less  than  two  miles  wide.  At  the 
northeast  corner,  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Jor¬ 
dan,  soundings  show  a  depth  of  1,310  feet.  From 
there  southward  the  bottom  shelves  rapidly  upward, 
and  at  the  southern  extremity  the  water  is  only  eight 
or  twelve  feet  deep.  The  mean  depth  is  1,080  feet. 
The  variation  in  depth  during  the  year  is  often  as 
much  as  twenty  feet,  according  to  the  rainfall.  The 
normal  level  below  that  of  the  Mediterranean  is  1,292 
feet;  the  total  depth  of  the  depression  below  the  level 
of  the  Mediterranean  is  2,603  feet.  Jerusalem  is  2,494 
feet  above  the  Mediterranean  and  3,786  feet  above  the 
Dead  Sea. 

Scientific  observation  justifies  the  estimate  that  a 
daily  average  of  6,500,000  tons  of  water  is  received 
into  the  sea  from  the  Jordan  and  other  sources  during 
the  year.  During  the  rainy  season  the  amount  is  very 
much  greater;  during  the  dry  season  it  is,  of  course 
very  much  less,  but  this  average  will  be  maintained 
year  after  year.  There  is  no  outlet  and  the  level  is 
kept  down  by  evaporation  only,  which  is  very  rapid 


5i8  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


because  of  the  intense  heat,  the  dry  atmosphere  and 
the  dry  winds  which  are  constantly  blowing  down  from 
the  gorges  between  the  mountains.  This  evaporation 
causes  a  haze  or  mist  to  hang  over  the  lake  at  all 
times,  and,  when  it  is  more  rapid  than  usual,  heavy 
clouds  form  and  thunderstorms  sometimes  rage  with 
great  violence  in  the  pocket  between  the  cliffs,  even  in 
the  dry  season.  A  flood  of  rain  often  falls  upon  the 
surface  of  the  water  when  the  sun  is  shining  and  the 
atmosphere  is  as  dry  as  a  bone  half  a  mile  from  the 
shore.  The  mountains  around  the  Dead  Sea  are  rarely 
seen  with  distinctness  because  of  this  haze. 

The  waters  of  Jordan,  when  they  reach  the  sea,  are 
as  brown  as  the  earth  through  which  they  flow — a  thick 
solution  of  mud— but  the  instant  they  mingle  with  the 
salt  water  of  the  lake  the  particles  of  soil  are  precipi¬ 
tated,  and  they  become  as  clear  as  crystal,  with  an 
intensely  green  tint.  Carrying  so  much  soil  and  hav¬ 
ing  so  swift  a  current,  one  would  suppose  that  the  sea 
would  be  discolored  for  a  considerable  distance,  but  it 
is  not  so.  The  discoloration  is  remarkably  slight. 
The  Jordan  has  quite  a  delta  at  its  mouth,  breaking 
into  a  number  of  streams  and  frequently  changing  its 
course  because  of  the  obstructions  brought  down  by  its 
own  current. 

All  the  streams  which  feed  the  Dead  Sea  are  more 
or  less  impregnated  with  sodium,  sulphur  and  other 
chemicals,  hence  it  contains  an  unusual  quantity,  at 
least  26  per  cent,  of  solid  substance.  Seven  per  cent 
of  this  is  common  salt,  6  per  cent  is  chloride  of  mag¬ 
nesium,  which  gives  the  water  its  nauseous  and  bitter 
taste,  and  5  per  cent  is  chloride  of  calcium,  which 
makes  it  feel  smooth  and  oily  to  the  touch.  There  are 
several  other  ingredients  in  smaller  quantities.  The 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  519 


water  boils  at  221  degrees  Fahrenheit.  Its  specific 
gravity  varies  from  1,021,  where  it  receives  the  dis¬ 
charge  of  fresh  water  from  the  Jordan,  to  1,256  at  the 
southern  part,  near  a  ledge  of  rock  salt.  Salt  has 
been  collected  and  sold  in  the  neighboring  cities  from 
the  earliest  times,  and  is  considered  particularly 
strong. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  lake  are  large  beds  of  asphalt, 
and  the  surrounding  soil  is  rich  in  bituminous  matter. 
Small  lumps  of  bitumen,  which  is  solidified  petroleum, 
frequently  float  upon  the  surface  and  may  be  picked 
up  among  the  gravel  on  the  shores.  At  the  southeast 
corner  is  a  ridge  of  pure  rock  salt  five  miles  long  and 
300  feet  high.  A  pillar  that  rises  beside  it  is  pointed 
out  to  tourists  as  the  remains  of  Lot’s  wife.  This 
deposit  of  fossil  salt  is  said  to  contain  a  higher  per¬ 
centage  of  chloride  of  sodium  than  is  found  elsewhere. 
The  bottom  of  the  lake  in  that  vicinity  is  covered  with 
large  crystals,  so  hard  as  to  defy  solution  except  in 
boiling  water. 

Nevertheless,  the  water  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  not  the 
saltiest  water  in  the  world,  as  is  generally  supposed. 
Ocean  water  contains  4  per  cent  salt,  the  Dead  Sea  26 
per  cent,  the  great  Salt  Lake  of  Utah  14  per  cent  in  the 
rainy  season  and  22  per  cent  in  the  dry  season;  Lake 
Elton,  on  the  Kirglin  Steppes  of  Siberia,  east  of  the 
Volga  River,  29  per  cent,  and  Lake  Urumia,  in  Persia, 
is  said  to  contain  from  28  to  32  per  cent.  The  latter  is 
strongly  impregnated  with  iodine  also. 

The  water  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  very  nauseous.  No 
stomach  is  strong  enough  to  retain  it.  It  is  sticky  to 
the  touch,  and,  when  dried,  leaves  a  coating  of  salt 
and  other  chemicals  upon  the  flesh  of  bathers.  But  it 
is  a  beautiful  blue  color,  and  so  transparent  that  one 


520  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


can  distinguish  objects  upon  the  bottom  at  a  depth  of 
twenty  feet.  It  is  difficult  to  swim  in  because  of  its 
buoyancy.  A  human  body  floats  without  exertion,  and 
can  only  be  submerged  by  an  effort.  Swimming  is 
unpleasant,  as  the  feet,  being  the  lighter  part  of  the 
body,  have  too  great  a  tendency  to  rise  to  the  surface. 
The  sea  is  usually  perfectly  calm.  The  water  is  so 
heavy  that  it  requires  a  strong  wind  to  disturb  it. 

Fish  placed  in  the  Dead  Sea  gasp  a  few  times  and 
die,  and  the  only  living  things  that  exist  in  the  water 
are  a  few  microbes,  the  bacilli  of  tetanus,  which  have 
been  discovered  in  the  north  bank.  The  popular  sup¬ 
position  that  poisonous  exhalations  arise  from  its  sur¬ 
face  is  a  mistake.  Birds  fly  over  it  without  injury,  and 
no  baneful  effects  are  suffered  by  breathing  the  atmos¬ 
phere.  On  the  contrary,  consumptives  and  other  per¬ 
sons  of  delicate  health  have  found  the  air  healing  and 
stimulating,  notwithstanding  the  great  heat,  and  fre¬ 
quently  camp  out  upon  the  shores.  At  one  time 
several  colonies  of  hermits  lived  upon  the  shores,  and 
within  a  century  penitents  have  come  here  to  die 
among  its  repulsive  surroundings.  There  were 
formerly  several  boats  plying  the  waters,  bringing 
merchandise  from  the  opposite  shores  to  Jericho,  and 
for  the  accommodation  of  tourists.  At  present  there 
are  but  two,  and  one  of  them,  a  small  steamer  recently 
brought  over  in  sections  from  Alexandria  by  the 
abbot  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  church  at  Jerusalem 
for  excursion  purposes,  is  laid  up  under  a  prohibition 
from  the  governor  of  the  province,  who  has  not 
received  the  amount  of  baksheesh  to  which  he  thinks 
himself  entitled. 

A  great  deal  of  mystery  and  superstition  attached  to 
the  Dead  Sea  in  olden  times,  much  of  which  was  dis- 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  521 


sipated  by  a  thorough  exploration  made  by  Capt. 
W.  F.  Lynch,  an  American  naval  officer,  who  was  sent 
over  by  the  Palestine  Exploration  Society  of  New 
York  in  1848.  His  report  has  ever  since  been  regarded 
as  the  highest  authority  on  all  questions,  although 
several  points  are  still  disputed.  Certain  passages  of 
Scripture  can  be  reconciled  to  the  physical  conditions 
that  exist  to-day  only  upon  the  theory  that  the  climate 
and  topography  have  changed  in  a  radical  and  remark¬ 
able  manner.  According  to  the  fourteenth  chapter  of 
Genesis,  there  was  already  a  salt  sea  here  in  the  days 
of  Abraham;  the  valley  of  Siddin,  as  it  was  called, 
“was  full  of  slime  pits,”  and  somewhere  in  this  awful 
and  uninhabitable  region  was  the  scene  of  God’s  most 
terrible  punishment  of  human  sins.  The  glare  of  the 
fire  and  brimstone  that  rained  upon  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  still  illuminates  this  repulsive  plain. 

When  Abraham  and  Lot  looked  down  from  the 
mountain  of  Bethel  (which  is  not  satisfactorily  identi¬ 
fied),  the  valley  of  the  Jordan  was  “well  watered 
everywhere  as  the  garden  of  the  Lord,  and  like  unto 
the  land  of  Egypt.’’  The  longing  eyes  of  Moses 
gazed  from  Pisgah  over  a  landscape  of  beauty  and 
delight;  at  the  temptation  of  Jesus  the  plain  of  Jericho 
was  covered  with  fertile  fields  where  now  are  banks  of 
naked,  lifeless  clay,  bearing  no  vegetation  but  grease 
plants  and  sage  brush. 

From  no  point  of  view  that  could  have  been  occu¬ 
pied  by  Abraham,  Moses  or  Jesus,  does  the  valley  of 
the  Jordan  appear  anything  but  a  desolate  waste  of 
mud. 

There  were  once  five  cities — Sodom,  Gomorrah, 
Adnah,  Zeboiim  and  Zoar — but  no  man  can  tell  where 
they  stood.  Their  ruins  have  entirely  disappeared, 


522  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


and  careful  investigation  has  demonstrated  that  the 
popular  idea  that  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  lie  at  the  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  a  mistake.  It  is  also  a  mistake 
to  suppose  that  any  community  of  size  ever  existed  in 
this  climate,  where  now  no  man  can  live. 

Just  how  the  Lord  “overthrew  the  cities”  is  not  dis¬ 
closed  either  by  Scriptural  history  or  the  evidences  of 
nature,  or  the  appearance  of  ruins.  The  inquisitive 
explorer  can  gain  no  light  from  any  of  these  three 
usually  reliable  sources.  The  great  difference  in  level 
between  the  Sea  of  Galilee  and  the  Dead  Sea  has  often 
been  cited  as  evidence  that  they  were  submerged  by 
the  sinking  of  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  it  has  often 
been  suggested  that  a  flood  might  have  followed  an 
earthquake  or  the  eruption  of  a  volcano;  but  geologists 
are  confident  that  no  active  volcanoes  have  ever 
existed  in  this  vicinity,  and  that  the  subsidence  of  the 
Jordan  Valley  occurred  in  the  tertiary  period,  which 
was  ages  before  it  could  have  been  inhabited  by  men 
They  hold  that  this  pocket  in  the  mountains  was  a 
reservoir  in  the  first  ice  age,  when,  as  the  testimony 
of  the  rocks  in  the  adjacent  mountains  proves,  the 
water  level  was  some  3,000  feet  higher  than  at  present 
and  at  a  greater  elevation  even  than  the  surface  of  the 
Mediterranean. 

It  is  also  perfectly  clear  from  the  Scriptures  that  the 
catastrophe  which  overtook  the  five  cities  upon  the 
plain  was  not  from  water,  but  from  fire,  and  the  abso¬ 
lute  disappearance  of  all  traces  of  walls  that  must  have 
been  built  of  stone,  because  there  was  no  timber,  is  of 
itself  a  remarkable  phenomenon.  This  is,  perhaps, 
the  only  place  in  Palestine  where  the  Bible  student  is 
utterly  bewildered  because  of  the  contradictions 
between  the  land  and  the  Book. 


THE  JORDAN  AND  THE  DEAD  SEA  523 

On  a  cliff  overhanging  the  Dead  Sea  a  pile  of  ruins 
marks  the  scene  of  one  of  the  most  desperate  and  ter¬ 
rible  tragedies  that  ever  occurred  in  human  history. 
Masada,  or  Sebbah,  as  it  is  called  to-day,  is  an  immense 
rock  half  a  mile  long  and  a  quarter  of  a  mile  broad, 
hewn  out  of  the  mountain  to  which  it  belongs  and 
twisted  by  some  awful  convulsion  of  nature.  It  is 
inaccessible  except  by  winding  paths  which  were 
chiseled  out  of  the  rock  and  are  so  narrow  that  men 
climb  only  in  single  file.  Upon  its  surface  Jonathan 
Maccabeus  built  a  fortress,  a  castle,  a  palace,  a  chapel 
and  other  buildings  and  surrounded  them  with  a  high 
wall,  with  handsome  gateways.  Herod  the  Great 
occupied  it  with  his  bride,  Mariamne,  in  the  year  42 
B.  C.  and  decorated  the  palace  in  a  most  luxurious 
manner.  He  paved  the  courtyards  with  mosaics  of 
many  colors.  The  designs  can  still  be  traced.  He 
hewed  cisterns  out  of  the  rock  for  a  water  supply  and 
caverns  for  wheat,  wine,  dates  and  other  food.  Stores 
which  he  sealed  up  in  these  caverns  were  found  in 
good  condition  many  centuries  later. 

In  70  A.  D.,  when  Jerusalem  fell,  the  garrison  fled 
here  and  was  besieged  by  the  Romans.  Flavius  Silva, 
one  of  the  generals  of  Titus,  laid  the  road  which  we 
followed  down  the  mountains,  extended  it  across  the 
plain  and  over  it  he  brought  siege  engines.  He  built 
up  banks  of  stone,  level  with  the  edge  of  the  rock, 
upon  which  he  placed  battering  rams,  and  after  several 
years’  siege  succeeded  in  making  a  breach  in  the 
walls.  Rather  than  submit  to  capture  the  garrison 
killed  each  other.  Ten  men  were  drawn  by  lot  to  fall 
upon  the  rest,  and  slew  each  other  after  they  set  fire 
to  the  palaces  and  other  buildings.  The  last  man  did 
not  die  until  he  saw  flames  burning  fiercely.  Then  he 


524  TO-DAY  IN  SYRIA  AND  PALESTINE 


fell  upon  his  own  sword.  When  the  Romans  searched 
the  town  after  its  destruction  they  found  a  half-crazed  , 
woman  and  five  children  still  alive,  the  only  survivors 
of  a  population  of  several  thousand. 


FINIS 


Index 


Abana,  River,  78. 

Abbas  Effendi,  219. 

Abraham,  294,  311. 

Father,  88,  94. 

Home  of,  71. 

Mistake  of,  86. 

Abraham’s  Oak,  302. 

Pool,  486. 

Tomb,  484. 

Absalom,  monument  of,  376. 
Acre,  City  of,  216. 

Adam’s  home,  71. 

JEgean  Sea,  20. 

Alexander  the  Great,  28,  189. 
American  college  at  Beirut,  46, 
52. 

American  colony  in  Jerusalem, 
401. 

American  Institute  of  Archeol¬ 
ogy,  398. 

Amulets,  Arab,  112. 

Antioch,  27. 

Arabs,  pride  of,  194. 

Disloyalty  of,  160. 
Archeology,  American  Institute 
of,  398. 

Ascension,  scene  of,  373. 

Baalbek,  169. 

Babbites,  the,  219. 

Baldwin,  Emperor  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  349. 

Baptist,  John  the,  276. 

Barada  River,  78. 


Battlefields  of  Joshua,  358. 
Battlefields  of  nations,  232. 
Battlefields  of  the  Jordan,  518. 
Bazaars,  Damascus,  87,  105. 
Beatitudes,  Mount  of,  250. 
Beersheba,  486. 

Bedouins,  the,  368. 

Beggars,  Jerusalem,  368,  445. 
Beha,  the  Persian  prophet, 
219. 

Beirut,  town  of,  37,  58. 

Ben  Hur,  28. 

Bethany,  479. 

Bethel,  296. 

Bethesda,  Pool  of,  404. 
Bethlehem,  459. 

Bible,  translation  of,  42. 
Blackmail,  official,  161,  397. 
Bliss,  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel,  56. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  233. 
Bridges  in  Palestine,  511. 

Caenaculum,  420. 

Cassarea,  ruins  of,  333. 

Calvert,  Frank,  U.  S.  Consul, 
16. 

Camels,  228. 

Cana  of  Galilee,  267. 

Caravan  road,  292. 

Carmelite  order,  205. 

Carmel,  Mount,  204,  227. 
Catholic,  Roman,  institutions, 
434- 

Cedars  of  Lebanon,  178. 

525 


INDEX 


526 

Cemeteries,  Jewish,  at  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  375. 

Censorship,  Turkish,  44. 
Cherith,  the  brook,  498. 
Children,  Damascus,  142. 
Christians,  Arabic,  157. 
Christians,  jealousies  of,  426. 
Christ,  tomb  of,  409. 

Church  of  Holy  Sepulcher,  409. 
Colonies,  Jewish,  323 
Cranks  in  Jerusalem,  395. 
Crusaders,  218,  233,  259. 
Crusades,  the,  250,  447. 

Damascus,  blades,  68. 

City  of,  85. 

Gate,  444. 

Missions,  41. 

Residences,  101. 
Dardanelles,  town  of,  18. 
David,  King,  88,  230. 

Administration  of,  500. 
and  Goliath,  358. 

Story  of,  462. 

Tower  of,  366. 

Dead  Sea,  503,  516. 

Road  to,  498. 

Steamboat  on,  397. 
Deborah,  295. 

Dervishes,  130. 

Diana,  Temple  of,  23. 

Dogs  of  Damascus,  147. 

of  Jerusalem,  380. 

Dog  River,  61. 

Dome  of  the  rock,  448. 

Druses,  the,  154. 

Eddy,  Rev.  William  K.,  51. 
Eddy,  Mary  Pierson,  47. 

Elah,  vale  of,  358. 

El  Aksa,  mosque  of,  450,  455. 


Elijah  the  Prophet,  94,  176,  203, 
229. 

Elisha  the  Prophet,  78,  94,  498. 
Elisha’s  Spring,  502. 
Emigration  from  Syria,  39. 
Ephesus,  ruins  of,  23. 
Esdraelon,  plain  of,  231. 
Euphrates,  valley  of,  73. 
European  quarter  of  Jerusalem, 
368. 

Euthuynus,  Father,  397. 
Excursionists  in  Holy  Land, 
354. 

Exiles,  political,  80. 

Fakirs,  Mohammedan,  441. 
Families,  ancient,  180. 
Fanaticism  in  Jerusalem,  439 

441. 

Farming  in  Syria,  73. 

Filth  of  Jerusalem,  440. 

Fleet,  Turkish,  '19. 

Forestry  in  Syria,  69. 

Frauds,  religious,  372,  468. 
Fuad,  Pasha,  80. 

Fuel  in  Syria,  71. 

Galilee,  Sea  of,  257,  263. 

Gate  of  Damascus,  417. 

Gates  of  Jerusalem,  444. 

Gaza,  town  of,  347,  349. 
Gerizim,  Mount,  311. 

German  enterprises,  158. 
Influence  in  Syria,  163. 
Interests  in  the  East,  15. 
Germans  in  Palestine,  210,  225 

363. 

Gethsemane,  Garden  of,  370. 
Gezer,  town  of,  356. 

Gilead,  500. 

Glass,  discovery  of,  218. 


INDEX 


527 


Golden  Gate,  404. 

Gordon’s  tomb,  416. 

Greek  monasteries,  434. 

Hackmen,  Jerusalem,  365. 
Haifa,  city  of,  21 1. 

Hamath,  city  of,  151. 

Harems  in  Damascus,  146. 
Hebron,  481-486. 

Hermon,  Mount,  38,  249,  264. 
Herodias,  277. 

Herod  Antipas,  273. 

Herod,  baths  of,  258. 

Herod’s  temple,  295. 

Herod  the  Great,  276,  302,  451, 

501,  523. 

Hezekiah,  Pool  of,  378. 

Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  193. 
History,  Old  Testament,  355. 
Holy  Sepulcher,  riot  at,  398. 
Hoskins,  Rev.  F.  E.,  51. 
Hospices,  Russian  pilgrim,  252. 
Houses,  Mohammedan,  101. 
Housetops  in  Syria,  70. 

Husks,  the  prodigal’s,  193. 

Irrigation,  72. 

Ishmaelites,  491. 

Islam  religion,  the,  119. 

Jacob’s  Pillar,  298. 

Jacob,  tomb  of,  483. 

Jaffa,  city  of,  339. 

Jaffa  Gate,  366. 

Jehoshaphat,  375. 

Jeremiah,  home  of,  357. 

Jericho,  modern,  501. 

Road  to,  493,  497,  501. 
Jerusalem,  condition  of,  381. 
Disagreeable  features  of, 
439- 

Government  of,  380,  430. 


Jerusalem,  history  of,  445. 

New  part  of,  401. 
Population  of,  386. 

Railway  station,  363. 
Streets  of,  442. 

Jessup,  Rev.  Dr.,  100. 

Jesus,  early  home  of,  252. 

Field  of  labor,  262. 

Jewish  colonies,  323. 

Converts,  363. 

Quarter  in  Damascus,  95. 
Quarter  of  Jerusalem,  364. 
Restrictions,  390. 

Jews  of  Galilee,  266. 
of  Jerusalem,  383. 
of  Palestine,  196,  326. 
of  Safed,  285. 
of  Samaria,  307. 

Wailing  of,  392. 

John  the  Baptist,  511,  516. 
Jonah,  scene  of  adventure,  59. 
Jordan,  road  to,  491. 

“The  other  side  of,”  500. 
The  River,  507. 

Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  356. 
Joseph’s  Pit,  281,  319. 

Tomb  of,  312. 

Joshua’s  battlefield,  358. 

Tomb,  301. 

Judea,  topography  of,  358,  385. 

Kaiser  Wilhelm  II.,  91, 174,  213, 
420. 

Last  Supper,  Room  of,  420. 
Lazarus,  tomb  of,  479. 

Lebanon  mountains,  37,  151. 
Lepers  in  Jerusalem,  444. 
Lunatics  in  Jerusalem,  395. 
Lydda,  town  of,  346,  351. 


INDEX 


528 

Mac  pel  ah,  Tomb  of,  484- 
Maronites,  47,  I54>  182. 
Marriage  in  Damascus,  142. 
Masada,  story  of,  523. 

Mecca  railway,  159. 

Merrill,  Dr,,  368,  417. 

Minarets,  86. 

Missionaries  in  Damascus,  96. 
Missionary  converts,  364. 
Missions  in  Syria,  40. 

Mizpah,  500. 

Moab,  499. 

Mohammedans  in  Jerusalem, 
447- 

Mohammedism,  85,  119,  185. 
Monks,  Franciscan,  240. 

Quarrels  of,  425. 

Morals  in  Palestine,  293. 
Moriah,  Mount,  450. 

Moses,  death  of,  279. 

Grave  of,  499,  514. 

Mosque  of  Omar,  439,  443,  448. 
Mosques  of  Damascus,  126. 
Mount  of  Olives,  371,  403. 

Naaman,  the  leper,  78,  91. 
Nablus,  city  of,  290,  313. 
Napoleon  I.,  233. 

Nativity,  Church  of,  466. 
Nazareth,  city  of,  235. 

Nebo,  Mount,  499,  514. 

New  Testament,  translation  of, 
42. 

Noah,  tomb  of,  152. 

Oliphant,  Lawrence,  204. 

Olive  Trees,  77. 

Olives,  Mount  of,  359,  374. 
Omar,  Mosque  of,  439,  443,  448. 
Overcomers,  the,  401. 

Palms,  76. 


Patmos,  Island  of,  26. 

Peddlers,  Jerusalem,  368. 
Pentateuch,  Samaritan,  309. 
Phoenicians,  the,  190. 

Pilate,  fate  of,  425. 

Pilgrims  in  Jerusalem,  497. 
Pilgrims,  Russian,  252,  353,  434. 
Pisgah,  Mount,  499,  514. 
Population  of  Jerusalem,  386. 
of  Syria,  157. 

Printing  press,  missionary,  43. 
Protestant  community,  Jerusa¬ 
lem,  431,  435. 

Protestants  in  Syria,  47. 
Proverbs,  Arab,  198. 

Quarrels  among  Christians,  398. 
Quarrels  of  monks,  425,  469,  473. 

Races  of  Syria,  194. 

Rachel’s  tomb,  461. 

Rasheed,  Sheik,  493,  500,  515. 
Railways  in  Palestine,  352. 

in  Syria,  14,  65,  158,  163. 
Railway  to  Damascus,  65. 
Religion,  Mohammedan,  119. 
Riot  at  Holy  Sepulcher,  398, 
426. 

Riot  at  Church  of  the  Nativity, 
469-474, 

Rivalry,  Christian,  469. 

Rock  of  Precipitation,  245. 
Rugs,  Turkish,  20. 

Russian  hospices,  434. 

Sabbatical  River,  75. 

Sacred  places  disputed,  437. 
Safed,  city  of,  281. 

St.  George  and  the  dragon,  59. 

Tomb  of,  92,  351. 

St.  John,  26. 


INDEX 


529 


St.  Paul  in  Damascus,  92. 

St.  Stephen’s  Gate,  444. 
Saladin’s  tomb,  90. 

Samaria,  289,  295. 

Modern,  307. 

Samaritan,  Inn  of  Good,  494. 
Sammarin,  town  of,  330. 
Sampson,  home  of,  350. 

Tomb  of,  349. 

Samos,  Island  of,  23. 

Sanhedrin,  the,  275. 

Saul,  King,  230. 

Schliemann,  Dr.,  discovers 
Troy,  17. 

Schools  in  Jerusalem,  398. 
Schumaker,  Dr. ,  American 
Consul,  214. 

Sepulcher,  Holy,  409. 

Sharon,  Plain  of,  356. 

Shechem,  312,  290. 

Sheep  of  Galilee,  283. 

Sheiks,  Arabian,  160. 

Shiloh,  488. 

Sidon,  town  of,  186. 

Silk  industry,  67. 

Siloam,  Pool  of,  378. 

Smith,  Dr.  Eli,  42. 

Smyrna,  20. 

Soap,  manufacture  of,  350. 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  521. 
Solomon,  King,  197. 

Pools  of,  377. 

Palace  of,  455. 

Temple  of,  450. 

Souvenirs,  bogus,  369. 

Sparrows  in  Syria,  147. 

Station,  railway,  at  Jerusalem, 

363. 


Steamers  to  the  Holy  Land,  13. 
Street  that  is  called  straight,  95. 
Streets  of  Jerusalem,  442. 

Tabor,  Mount,  231,  249,  267. 
Tarsus,  town  of,  27. 

Taxation  in  Palestine,  389. 
Tear  bottles,  136. 

Tea  trade,  32. 

Temple  of  Solomon,  450. 
Temple  Society,  210,  363,  460. 
Temptation,  Mount  of,  502,  512. 
Tiberius,  Emperor,  28. 

Town  of,  260,  273. 

Tomb  of  Christ,  409. 

Tomb  of  David,  421. 
Transportation  in  Syria,  73,  152. 
Traveling  in  Palestine,  290. 

in  the  East,  15. 

Troy,  Plain  of,  16. 

Turkish  fleet,  19. 

Tyre,  city  of,  19 1. 

Tyrian  purple,  192. 

Van  Dyke,  Rev.  Dr.,  42. 
Vathy,  town  of,  25. 

Via  Doloroso,  417,  423. 

Victoria,  Queen,  299. 

Virgin,  Holy,  house  of,  242. 
Tomb  of,  372. 

Water  rights  in  Palestine,  491. 

Supply,  Jerusalem,  377. 
Well  of  Nazareth,  244. 

Women,  bought  and  sold,  143. 
of  Damascus,  139. 

Zahle,  town  of,  1 1 7. 

Zion,  Hill  of,  386. 

Zionist  committee,  388. 


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